Fritz and fright Fnaf au
by Sammywolfgirl01
Summary: With fazbears fright opening in a week, the phone dude called up an old lead to try and add some authenticity to his passion project. Hoping for Fritz smith, he ends up reaching someone else. Now the new guard gets himself caught up in the antics of spirits and angry robots. Will he be able to survive the week? (Part 1 of my Troubled souls Fnaf au)
1. chapter 1: lost and found

It was a lucky find, what were the chances of finding a full working animatronic in good condition behind a false wall?... okay maybe good is being generous, the bot looked to have been rotting in that room for years, decades maybe, but it was in one piece and worked so he wasn't complaining. If anything, he was thrilled. With a find like this the attraction will be huge! Now he just needs to find Fritz smith. He's an ex-night guard that used to work at the toy location, from what he's researched the man is still in the area. All he had to do was find his number. The man bounced in excitement.

——————

In an ordinary home The older man yawned, squinting his hazel eyes as he searched for his glasses, the sound of the phone ringing had woken him up from his nap, he didn't want to ignore the call so he reluctantly pulled himself up and trudged to the phone. "Hello?" He answered, running a hand though his blonde hair, his voice was horse from just waking up.

"Hello? Oh hey man uh, is this the home of Fritz Smith?" The young man on the other end asked. The man nodded.

"Yah, do you need anything?"

"This is great! Okay oh man it's such an honor to talk to you mister Smith, uh aw hell sorry I'm rambling let me get to the point."

Smith couldn't help but chuckle at the man at the other end's antics. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and continued to listen.

"Okay so uh, I was wondering if you could come in and work as a nightguard to the Fazbear's Fright attraction opening in a few weeks. I'll pay you of coarse! I just would really like a genuine fazbear family night guard working to make the experience more real, you know?" He explains, the man thinks about it for a moment, then shrugs, what's the harm?

"Alright, sure I'll bite. Where do you want to meet up to discuss this more?" He answers and the dude on the other end was practically squeaking with joy.

"Thank you so much mister fritz! I can't wait! You won't regret this I promise!" So the two talked location and details and agreed to meet up tomorrow at a local coffee shop. What were the odds they both were in relatively the same town. "Then again maybe he wouldn't have called if I lived out of state" he thought absently to himself. Soon smith hung up the phone and chuckled.

"Ah, you would have loved to hear this one bro, even now we're getting confused for each other" he muses and looks towards a picture of two identical boys playing on a tree swing.

"Ah well, what's the worst that could happen? I'm sure your job can't be that hard." Mr. Smith sighs and writes down the time on a notepad before returning to his couch. He put his feet up and clicked on the TV, with a grin he announced to himself.

"Fazbear Fright here I come!"


	2. Chapter 2: Meet and Greet

Today was the day.

It was a bright beautiful Sunday morning, Smith drove into the parking lot and locked the car. "To late to turn back Now" he chucked, not like he wanted out anyway.

Mr. Smith walked up to the cafe he and this Phone dude fella agreed to meet at, it was a nice place, small but comfortable. Smith found the man waving enthusiastically at him from one of the tables, and so he walked over and sat across from him. The man immediately shakes his hand excitedly

"Aw man it's so good to meet you mister Fritz"

"Please, call me Smith" smith smiles

"Mister smith, again I can't thank you enough for agreeing to help! Oh! My name is Justin Blake by the way" Justin smiles, Smith can't help but notice his excitement and generally upbeat attitude. 'Reminds me of Fritz' he thought to himself with a sad smile.

The two discussed the location and what the job entailed, as well as some small talk on the side. They left agreeing that Smith would watch the building a week before the official opening just to make sure nothing gets stolen or catches on fire. He even got the address. Justin enthusiastically waved and walked back to his car.

"I'll call ya when your shift starts to let ya know what's happening!" He called out quickly which Smith response was a thumbs up and a nod. "Looking forward to it!" He called back and soon watched Justin drive away. He sighed. "Nice dude. Hope this works out for him" he hummed.

Since the building wasn't to far away from the route Smith took to drive home, he decided to swing by and just take a look. He pulled up to the parking lot and hopped out of the car. Looking up at the refurbished building that would soon host a horror attraction. He had to admit, for an attraction that's basically been tossed together by one passionate adult... it looked decent. Maybe the run down building was helping the horror vibe, Smith whistled.

"Looks old... but hey if it works it works." He turned to leave, but felt a cold breeze behind him, he had the odd feeling of being watched, smith turned around and saw... nothing.

All there was behind him was an old building turned horror attraction.

smith blinked, shrugged, and got back into his car.

"Guess the atmosphere is better then I gave it credit for" he mumbles to himself as he drives out of the parking lot. The feeling of unease followed him home.

————————

Smith unlocked the doors to his small home, it wasn't anything fancy but hey, at least it wasn't a cramp apartment. He put his belongings on a side table and slumped over to the couch. He suddenly felt exhausted after leaving the building's sight. Maybe all the activities from today were catching up to him.

Or maybe I'm not as young as I like to think I am

He absently thought. He shook his head and pulled his hood over his face. His eyes fluttering closed as he soon drifted off into a rough sleep.

Everything was fuzzy, a dream? Perhaps. But he felt to solid for this to be just another dream.

The walls were dreary and covered in mold and water stains. The floor was cracked and covered in muddy footprints. He thought he heard the sound of something large and heavy walking around.

A cold shiver tailed up his spine and he looked around, a soft voice whispered to him

"Follow me"

He turned to face it and was met with a thin figure, it was a tall, puppet like figure, with an unknown expression on its face. He tilted his head at the figure, vaguely aware that the heavy footsteps were approaching from behind.

The puppet made a motion to follow.

He obliged.

The puppet lead him though the warn down building, he looked around.

There were children's drawings scattered on the walls, and he got the feeling that this used to be a popular children's place. But it had the air of a long forgotten location.

The puppet soon stopped at the stage.

Three large animatronics where standing tall.

A bear

A bunny

And a chicken.

He heard the footsteps of another approach and looked over.

A fox had joined the group.

He looked up at the puppet confused.

"Please..."

It said in a begging tone. Looking desperately at him.

"Help us"

He was about to respond when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

He looked back and was face to face with a figure of purple. Black beety eyes looked at him.

Before he could react a red axe was swung at him.

He woke up with a jolt. Sitting up from the couch and looking around. Once he was sure he was back in his familiar home and not some decrepit building he released a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"Some nightmare huh" he mumbled, but he had the feeling it wasn't just some dream. His eyes slid over to the picture of the two bothers.

"Maybe I should have taken your word before bro..." he mumbles before standing up.

"Welp, can't disappoint now. And well, a little adventure never killed anyone." He stretched his back until he heard a satisfying pop and sighed. His first shift stayed tomorrow so he decided to call it a night early. It wasn't long before he changed into a comfortable sleep shirt and slid into bed. He flicked off the lights and put his glasses on the side table before laying back and looking at the ceiling.

The odd feeling of being watched tingled at the back of his mind. But he decided not to worry. Instead he spoke.

"Not sure what you're trying to tell me but uh... well I'm certainly curious now." He wasn't sure who he was talking to, or if they were even listening.

"I'll see how I can help. Can't promise anything other then I'll try" he said with a yawn before turning over to his side to settle in.

He drifted off into a dreamless sleep. None the wiser of the story he has inserted himself into


	3. Chapter 3: The First Night

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stiff. He felt stiff.

That man must have moved him while he was out. The location was new to him.

He tried to move his arm.

Nothing.

He tried to move his leg.

Nothing.

He let out a growl.

She had to have done this.

It was always her.

His spirit writhed within the suit holding him hostage.

He wanted out.

He wanted out now!

—————————

He awoke feeling oddly unrested. It was dark out and he knew his shift started in a couple hours. So Smith dragged himself out of bed and got dressed. The whole drive he had that odd feeling of being watched, but shrugged it off. Soon he was stepping out of his car and approaching the building of the soon to be Fazbears fright. "Night one, lets get this ball rolling" he psyched himself up and opened the door. He was greeted with a gust of cold air, Why was the inside so cold anyway? Oh well, good thing he is wearing a sweatshirt. Not like I wear anything else. He thought to himself. Smith strode onto the office like he owned the place, which he technically did if only for the night. "I think I can chase off some rough teens wanting a sneak peak of the spooky action." He jokes to himself. Falling back into the chair he rolled over to the tablet at the desk, picking it up he knew right away this was a camera tablet. "Heh, Fritz used one of those" he mused to himself, he idly switched though the cameras as the phone rang.

"Hey hey, glad you came back for another night! I promise, it'll be a lot more interesting this time!"

Smith looked down and noticed this was a recording. Must have been made earlier. Oh well he doesn't mind listening in. He leaned back in the chair as the recording continued,

"We found some, some great new relics over the weekend, and we're out tracking down a new lead, right now! So, uhhh, lemme just update you real quick, then you can get to work. Like, the attraction opens in like, a week, so we have to make sure everything works, and nothing catches on fire!"

"That'd be inconvenient" he quipped, chuckling to himself

"Uh, when the place opens, people will come in at the opposite end of the building, and work their way toward you, then past you and out the exit. Uh, yeah you've officially become part of the attraction. Uh, you'll be starring as...the security guard! So not only will you be monitoring the people on the camera as they pass through – you know, to make sure no one steals anything or makes out in the corner – but you'll also be a part of the show. It'll make it feel really authentic, I think."

Smith was only half listening now, he was clicking though the cameras seeing the sights. Though he had a feeling of being watchful and glanced up at the window to only see it empty.

"Uh, now lemme tell you about what's new. We found another set of drawings, always nice, and a Foxy head! Which we think could be authentic! Then again, it might just be another crappy cosplay. And we found a desk fan. Very old-school. Metal though. Watch the fingers, uh, ha."

"Did you also find a ghost?" Smith quipped again, though he didn't laugh, he was starting to get on edge

"Finally uh, oh right! We found an old animatronic, a real one man! But it didn't seem to be working when I checked, then again I'm not a robot expert, heh, well uh, anyway it should be in there, we've got it in the basement, it's not on the cameras by the way. It's really spooky lookin' so if it ends up not moving we're gunna use it as a prop, hopefully it moves though, imagine how scary that'd be to see this big rotten guy stumbling around like a horror movie villain."

Smith wasn't listening anymore. He was getting up out of his seat

"Umm, you can check the security cameras over to your right with a click of that blue button. Uh, you can toggle between the hall cams and the vent cam. Uh, then over to your far left, uh, you can flip up your maintenance panel. You know, use this to reboot any systems that may go offline. Uh-heh. Uh in trying to make the place feel vintage we may have overdone it a bit, heh-heh. Some of this equipment is barely functional. Yeah, I-I wasn't joking about the fire that's-that's-that's a real risk. Uh, the most important thing you want to watch for is the ventilation."

He thought he saw movement just in the corner of his vision, but again he looked and nothing was there... the ventilation was working fine so it couldn't just be in his head... right?

"Look, this place will give you the spooks, man, and if you let that ventilation go offline then you'll start seeing some crazy stuff, man. Keep that air flowing! Okay, keep an eye on things, and we'll try to have something new for you tomorrow night!"

And with a click the recording ended.

"Phone people always talk a lot don't they?"

A voice chuckled softly, Smith turned on his heels and was face to face with the puppet from his dream. "W-" his voice catches and he blinks rapidly.

"Holy shit how high am I?" He whispers to himself. This got a light chime of amusement out of the phantom. "I assure you you aren't seeing things... well you are but I'm not just a figment of your imagination"

"...so I'm not high?" The puppet seemed unamused by his jokes.

"No, you are not 'high'" it sighed, then looked at Smith seriously. "You remember me right? What we talked about?" The man slowly nodded. "Yah, kinda hard to forget a dream ending with some creepy nightmare Barney." This someone managed to get a snort out of the phantom. "He does leave quite an impact.., but I shouldn't stall. I sincerely ask for you help. Unfortunately I cannot do this alone..." She let out a defeated chime, Smith felt bad. This wouldn't be his first bad decision so he walked up to the phantom and nodded. "I said I'd help wouldn't I? What's the game plan boss?" The puppet looked up, it smiled wide. "Now listen closely because there isn't much time, I can only keep HIM still for so long," him? That felt ominous, but he nodded and listened. "There are souls, children's souls that are trapped here. I ask your help in assisting them in moving on. There are... windows to the other side that you can use here. They aren't open now but, you'll know how to reach them once they are." Vague, lovely. But Smith wasn't one to back down from some strange challenge. "Right, so uhhh how will I know this exactly? More spooky dreams?"

"That is the most reliable way for me to share information"

"Great."

"I apologize, but I deeply appreciate you doing this for us mr Smith" the Puppet was briefly cut off when Ethan raised a hand, giving a casual smirk he says.

"Please, call me Ethan"

"Of coarse, thank you Ethan" she replied with a smile.

He slid over to the desk tablet and poked though the cameras. "So that's it? A simple week of helping ghosts? Think I can manage that" He mused. But the puppet didn't leave. Instead she hovered closer, "I'm afraid he won't make it that easy." She warned, Ethan looked over. "He? What is this a 'he who cannot he named' situation?" He scratched his head as he leaned back in the chair. "We call him... Springtrap... he has been very angry since he awoke. I am not able to hold him back for much longer." The puppet looked genuinely distressed. Ethan muttered something under his breath. "Okay, Great, killer animatronic thing is in the building. That's fine, you wouldn't happen to know where he is right now would you?"

"HE MOVED!" Sudden a broken looking phantom fox animatronic was leaning against the window. Ethan let out a very manly scream and fell back. While the man picked himself back up the puppet approached the other phantom."So soon? Oh no, has he left the basement?"

"YAH AND HE ISNT HAPPY- OH! IS THAT THE GUY WHOS HELPING US? HI NIGHT GUARD!" The two headed fox waved. Ethan gave a slow wave back. How many of these phantoms were there? The puppet phantom looked over to the cameras. "The suit is attracted to sound, use that to lure him away, good luck Ethan" and before Ethan could say anything else she was gone. Phantom Mangle looked over to Ethan and blinked, Ethan blinked back.

"So uh... how many of you are there?" He decided to ask.

"SIX! THERES FREDDY, CHICA, FOXY, ME, PUPPET, AND B.B!" And with that she waved and faded. "That's... lovely okay." Ethan tried to remain calm. He checks the cameras and jumps when he is met with a very rotten looking robot with its face shoved into the screen.

"Yikes man... you've seen better days" he mumbles, deciding to try the puppets advice he clicked an audio lure away from him. He heard metal footsteps as the creature trudged away.

"Well.. that was easier then I though-whatthehellisthat" something new has appeared on the screen, it looked like a little boy, but with sharp teeth and those piercing eyes Ethan thought it looked more like a gremlin.

"What the FUU-" he was cut off by his own scream when the boy jumped out of the screen and into his face with a hissing screech. Ethan fell onto his back as alarm lights rang around him, he was only slightly aware of how it suddenly became harder to breathe. "-Vents... shit" he puffed out as he desperately tried to regain some composure, he crawled over to the control panel searching for the vent reset button. "Comeon comeon- Shit" he made the mistake of looking up, because Springtrap was looking at him through the window. Seeing the creature up close was a much different experience than through the cameras, it's fur was matter and torn, bits of wire and something that definitely wasn't metal poking though the holes, it's ears were torn and it's eyes were dark, illuminated by a piercing purple glow. The robot had a cold expression, filled with hate, Ethan didn't even need to think for a second before he just knew.

This thing wanted to kill him.

The vents had reset and Ethan dashed over to the tablet trying to use the sound again, but when he pressed the button it made an error noise, "seriously? Oh screw my luck!" He cursed as he looked over to the doorway, Springtrap was staring him down.

Ethan stared back.

Both locked into a tense standstill,

neither wanted to move first.

'How long is this night?' Ethan wondered to himself. Just as it looked like the monster was about to move in a bell rang out and he froze. Ethan held his breath, waiting a long moment to see if this was just some elaborate trick to get his guard down... but Springtrap couldn't move.

Ethan dared to look at his phone and saw the time

6:00 AM.

Springtrap was completely frozen, and the expression in his eyes showed he definitely didn't expect that.

"...Heh haha! Oh my god the programming kicked in" Ethan couldn't help but laugh. "Guess even the old bunny isn't safe from that." He must have been in shock because instead of running away quickly, Ethan was over the desk, holding his stomach, laughing hysterically. Springtrap could only stand frozen and growl lowly as the man eventually regained his composure.

"Oh! Haha Oh my god heh ...ow my sides" he wiped his eyes, having to move his glasses for it. "Well! Glad to know what I'm up against huh, Big Guy?" Ethan grinned up at the rotten rabbit, it could only glare spitefully at the man as he shimmied past the frozen robot. "Well I'll see you tomorrow night Springy." Ethan waves as he sped-walked away. Springtrap remained frozen. He could only growl in protest.

"Well Gee! Looks Like You Didn't Get Him This Time Huh?" Phantom B.B. manifested next to the rabbit, Floating in circles around him. He knew full well the robot couldn't hurt him. "You've Got Aaaall The Time You Want Tomorrow Though, Can't Wait For The Show!" The phantom laughed as it disappeared, leaving the robot to his own festering, horrid thoughts.

————-

Ethan crumbled into his bed the minute he got home. The exhaustion of the night catching up to him.

"Shiiiiiit" he swore into the pillow.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck" he used his second pillow to completely sandwich his head between the pillows.

"That things gunna kill meeeee" he tried to squeeze his head into the pillow sandwich, but all it did was shove his glasses into his nose, which was very uncomfortable.

But Ethan didn't care.

The pain distracted him from things.

Like how he was completely alone in a house made for a family.

Ethan let out a heavy sigh and rolled out of his self made pitty pillow sandwich, looking up at the ceiling. "...heh.. well if I'm gunna die anyway, might as well be while trying to help some kids out." He chuckled darkly, deciding sleeping in his hoodie wasn't the smartest idea Ethan rolled out of bed to get stared in his sleep routine.

Turning his lamp light off Ethan layed back in his bed. It's best to get some sleep in before jumping back into whatever situation he just signed himself up for. His eyelids closed as he slipped into unconsciousness.

When he opened his eyes again he was in a location he didn't recognize.

"Huh?" Ethan looked around, he saw the place was abandoned and forgotten, he found the stage, and he saw the three iconic characters still in their places.

"...oh! This is a memory thing isn't it?" He got his answer when Freddy's head looked up and out, he saw what looked like a purple bear walking in a direction whispering 'FOLLOW ME' Ethan was almost tempted to take his offer... but Ethan had never gotten the chance to explore a Freddy's before.

"Brb shadow guy, gotta check out the local" he quipped while jogging off into another room,

It looked like a Freddy's, he'd been in one before when he went in with his brother. "Looks rotted out though" he mumbles, nothing of note really catching his eye until he was face to face with literal writing on the walls. A sentence was written on one wall, while a code was written on the second.

"Huh... this feels important."

"Follow me" the shadow bear whispered a bit more harshly, Ethan spun back and saw the shadow bear had followed him. "Okay okay geese! I'm coming" he answered as he started to follow the bear. Soon they were back at the stage, Ethan noticed that Freddy was now coming off the stage and following as well, though he didn't seem to notice Ethan there. Pretty soon both Freddy and Ethan were following the purple bear. "Heh, it's like a conga line, not a very fun one though" Ethan joked to ease his nerves, he couldn't shake the feeling something bad was about to happen.

Soon he got his answer.

The gang had arrived to a wall, the shadow bear faded though, but Freddy couldn't seem to go into the room. Ethan couldn't really see into the room either. He squinted and looked back to freddy. "Huh, looks like the end of the line then eh freddy?" The bear soon turned around to walk back into stage when suddenly the purple man ran out from the hidden room with an axe, in a swift motion he attacked Freddy and broke him into pieces. Ethan jumped back with a surprised scream. "Holy shit man!" He looked between the purple guy and the now broken bear on the floor. "Take it easy man!" Ethan put his hands up, worried that he might be next on the axe wielding maniacs hit list.

Just as suddenly as the vision started it ended, Ethan's vision faded to black.

Strangely enough the last thing Ethan thought of was cake.

——————————

Springtrap sat in the basement again, someone had moved him during the day. He hated that the suits programming was still active. It was annoying. That guard was annoying.

Springtrap wanted him dead.

The phantoms were around him, keeping a distance.

Of coarse they would.

The kids were still scared of him.

He didn't care.

He was too angry to care,

He just wanted to break something.

The annoying guards neck would have to do.

The phantoms gathered around the puppet,

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Phantom Freddy asked, worried

"Seems To Me Like That Human Wont Last The Week!" Phantom B.B. laughed

"I LIKE HIM!" Phantom Mangle grinned

"What if Springtrap gets him? Are we going to be stuck here forever?!" Phantom Chica squeaked in fear.

"That man laughed in the face o' danger! Strange one he is, must be a brave idiot!" Phantom foxy cackled

"Everyone please stay calm, I'm... I'm sure this is going to work" the phantom puppet reassured. "...it has to"

————————

[and that's where my stockpile ends. I'll try to update this soon ish. Hope you liked it so far, feedback would be appreciated greatly ]


	4. Chapter 4: Windows and Doors

**{ sorry this took so long to come out, this chapter turned out longer than I anticipated! But I hope it was worth the wait. _}**

_"The phantoms are trusting Him to free them? That imbecile couldn't even follow a simple instruction" _

_The shadow bear leaned against the wall, standing next to two other purple figures._

_"Awww don't be like that~ where's your sense of adventure?"_

_"It died along with him" the bear huffed while gesturing to the seemingly sleeping figure hunched over on the ground._

_"Ruuuude, you can't speak ill of the dead!"_

_"I doubt he can even hear us"_

_"You never know!" The purple bunny stuck its tongue out._

_"I prefer to think I'm knowledgeable, and i say that he cannot hear us. Just like all the other times we've tried to communicate."_

_"Yaaaah but he was living then. Things are different now" the other giggled._

_The bear rolled its eye and looked away. _

_"You'll see, I've got a good feeling. Things are about to change wildly." The bunny shadow giggles._

_Then as quickly as they appeared both purple shadows faded away._

_Leaving the rotten bunny alone_

~~~~~~~~~~~

Ethan awoke at the sound of his alarm.

He continued to lay in bed though, he knew he had to get up, he wanted to look up some things before heading back to Fazbears fright.

But his bed was warm and comfortable.

"Hhhhnnn five more minutes?" He mumbles into his pillow.

But his stomach growled loudly in protest.

"...okay okay, I'll get up" he grumbled while sitting up.

Ethan sat in front of his computer while eating a Biscuit, typing with one hand was hard but not impossible,

"Let's see let's see- aha! Freddy Fazbears pizza! Wonder what dirt you've got." He grinned while reading though articles of...

A whole lot of unorganized mess

Ethan found himself reading up on conspiracy theory boards that were so over the top that Ethan couldn't buy it.

"Why's everything always connecting back to aliens or government secrets anyway? Aliens are cool and all but I don't think they're responsible for everything." Ethan quipped at his screen while taking another bite of his puny breakfast.

Or would it be closer to dinner?

Eh, he didn't pay attention, he then got another idea

"Okay maybe looking for general knowledge isn't smart but if I'm more specific..."

he typed in 'missing children's incident: freddy Fazbears'

Some articles loaded onto the screen.

"Jackpot"

Ethan spent most of the afternoon reading various articles, writing down names he thought were important; Family names, investigators, and suspect names. He wanted to be thorough but soon he had to stop, the subject matter was getting too grim for him at this point.

He had to go back to work anyways.

Before he left he wrote down the hints he got from his dream last night, just in case he forgot. Then headed to his car.

——————

Fazbears fright stood as is usually did, an unassuming horror attraction.

Almost as if the building was hiding the secret murder rabbit inside from unknowing outsiders.

"Hah," Ethan muses, "just like the past Freddy's then." He walked inside while mumbling "congrats Justin, you've got yourself an authentic Freddy's experience here"

He was early and had a feeling that he'd be safe to wander before night mode officially kicked in.

Of coarse this 'safety' didn't last long when he was immediately greeted with a spectral bear sitting in his usual seat.

"...can I help you?" Ethan asked casually while putting his stuff on the desk.

**"Uh yah, I-I mean Yes! You can."** The phantom straightened his posture. **"****I've come to inform you that, er, If you try any funny business with my friends I will personally, uh, make you regret it!"** Phantom freddy crosses his arms and glared at the man, who simply blinked in response. "So... was that a threat or?"

**"P-Perhaps it was a threat!"** The bear huffed, though he reminded Ethan more of a child with how he was reacting.

A child wanting to be seen as mature

Ethan couldn't help but start snickering. Though apparently this was not the response the bear wanted as he frowned and stood up.**"Hey! I'm being serious!"** The bear looked over the man as he covered his mouth. "Sorry Heh Sorry! It's just- pfshh if you were so worried you could have done something else." The Man calmed himself down as the freddy tilted his head. **"****What- what do you mean by-" **

"physically you really can't do much to me because..." Ethan demonstrated by walking right though the phantom bear, it sent a cold chill up his spine, but he had apparently made his point clear to the bear as he froze a moment before turning around. **"****T-that wasn't very funny sir!"** He huffed as Ethan plopped himself onto the chair while chuckling. "Look I get it, you're worried about your friends. I give you my word, I won't try to hurt them or anything." This caused the bear to pause. **"Promise?"** He asked quietly, and Ethan nodded. "Swear on my life" phantom freddy now visibly relaxed. **"****That's.. good, good"** he nodded before turning to look at the slip of paper Ethan had placed on the desk. **"What's this?"** He asked while pointing at it.

"Oh that? List of names, decided to do some research on Freddy's, I mean I'm surprised I haven't looked before but eh better late than never" he shrugs while picking up the tablet. "If anything rings any bells for ya let me know, Kay Fred?" Ethan casually stated while flipping through the cameras to find Springtrap.

It was now midnight and the game had begun.

Freddy and Ethan were sitting together in a comfortable silence while Ethan kept Springtrap away, maybe he was already getting desensitized to this paranormal situation?

Perhaps not.

Perhaps it's simply the fact that Ethan wasn't afraid to die that kept him so calm.

But perhaps not

**"MISTER NIGHT GUARD THE VENTS!" **

Phantom Mangle jumped out behind the window, startling Freddy enough that he fell. Ethan looked up. "Huh? The vents?"

**"VENTS VENTS HES IN THE VENTS!"** They continued to screech. Ethan quickly clicked though the vent cameras and spotted Springtrap crawling towards the office. Ethan hastily sealed the vents cutting off the rabbits progress, he heard a loud THUNK ring though the vents and various angry hissing.

"...I think he's mad" Ethan jokes.

None of the phantoms laughed. Ethan sighs and mumbles to himself "I keep forgetting about the vents."

**"Thank you Mangle"** phantom freddy nods towards the fox who grins happily before disappearing. Soon it was just Ethan and the bear alone in the room.

**"...Ethan, Sir?" **Phantom freddy asked. The man hummed and looked over.

**"Can... can I take this list with me?"** He pointed towards the slip of paper. "Oh that? Yah sure knock yourself out." He nods and the bear grins and tries to grab the paper.

But his hand phased right though the table.

Phantom freddy continues to try in vain to grab the slip of paper, progressively getting more and more frustrated until Ethan is seeing black, inky tears in his eyes.

"Uh... okay how about this." Ethan checks the tablet one more time before standing up. "I'll take the list to wherever you want me to, sound good?" Freddy stayed quiet but nodded.

Deciding to leave the office probably wasn't the smartest move. He was unguarded and doubted one phantom bear would be enough to keep a very real rotten rabbit away from him.

But then again Ethan Smith isn't known for making smart decisions.

Currently he was following phantom Freddy to who knows where while holding his note sheet filled with names. He still wondered what those hints in his dreams meant when he spotted something hanging innocently on the wall.

It was a picture of balloon boy holding a bright red balloon. It was crudely drawn, clearly a child's art, but it had an air to it that felt almost inviting.

**"Sir Ethan?"** Phantom freddy turned back and noticed the man wasn't following. Ethan jumped and smiles. "Sorry about that. Just uh, hm. Well it's not that important." He quickly caught up to the phantom and soon they reached their destination.

It was a corner, it had a wall covered in children's drawing with one picture of the puppet holding a present at its center. **"This is it, can you hang the list here please?****"** The bear asked. Ethan couldn't find any pins or tape so he had to improvise, he folded the top of the list and carefully balanced it on one of the currently hanging images. He nodded and stepped back when he was done. "Looks good! So uh, quick question," Ethan asked as the bear looked back over to him. "Where's the arcade machine?"

**"Oh! It's not too far. Just down the hall and past- Springtrap!" **

The phantom jumped back into a wall and Ethan didn't even have to look,

He could feel the rotten rabbit looming behind him.

"Well shit"

Ethan ducked just under the rabbits arm as he grabbed for the man. He dashed down the hallway with the rabbit's loud footsteps not far behind him. As Ethan dashed down the hallway he spotted that innocent Balloon Boy poster again, taking a risk he made a grab for it. As soon as his fingers touched the page his vision buzzed and he went limp. Before he could even hit the ground Ethan's world went black.

—————

Ethan awoke in a strange area, the walls and floor were colored blue and floating platforms hovered above him. The man sat up and held his head. "What the... what happened?"

"Hey Hey! A Little Help Here?" A boys voice called out. Ethan looked up and saw Balloon boy on a platform waving down at him. Ethan looked up. "Huh? What? Are you talking to me?"

"Well Yah! There Aren't Any Other Fancy Rabbits Here!" Rabbits? Ethan only now looked down and noticed he was wearing a different outfit. It looked to be a white vest over a blue dress shirt and pants. He stood up and dusted himself off, and only then did he notice the two half glowing set of bunny ears floating above his head. "What!?" He looked up and tried to grab one, and sure enough it was real. Ethan blinked in surprise, than he started to laugh.

"Heh haha HAH OH my God! Bunny ears?!" He laughs while the other observer huffs with impatience. "You Done Yet?"

Ethan catches his breath and calms down. "Y- pshh yah I'm good. You, you said you needed help right?"

"Like Yah I Do! See All These Balloons?" He gestures around himself. "I Need Six Of Them. Get Them For Me Will Ya?" He demanded. Ethan decided why the hell not and gave a thumbs up. He spotted the first ballon next to him and grabbed it, jumping up to the higher ledges he grabbed balloon number two, three, four, and five. But as he jumped back down to balloon boy he couldn't find any more balloons. "Hey uh, I think that's all of them." Ethan shrugged and tried to offer the kid his bunch of red balloons. "Nope! There's One left. Look Harder"

"Listen kiddo, I've checked all over and there isn't another balloon here." Ethan sighed, he spotted an exit door and almost started to head towards it before the boy put a hand on his chest, halting his progress.

"I Said. Look. **Harder**"

Ethan was shoved back, and fell though the wall.

Ethan let out a scream as he felt himself fall down and down into a dark void, thankfully the balloons in his hand were slowing his fall just before he hit the ground. Ethan lands onto the blackened floor shaking, his limbs feeling like noodles.

"H-holy shit man" he breathed to himself as he struggled to regain his composure.

"What the f- Hell was that for!?" He yelled back up into the void, he heard the echoed laughs of the boy in response.

He shakily looked up and spotted what looked like a tree in the distance. Regaining his strength, Ethan pushed himself onto his feet and made his way forward. The closer he got to the tree he more unnerved he became. The tree was dark as night and surrounded by dark sobbing figures, they didn't seem to notice Ethan as he passed though, which unsettled the man. Quickly making his way past the sobbing people, soon Ethan spotted another blue cube room. Walking up to the wall he decided to stick his freehand up to the wall and sure enough the wall wasn't real, and his hand passed right though no problem. "Heh, weird." He chuckled to himself as he enters the new room. The only thing he saw was a multicolored balloon waiting on a platform like the prize at the end of a level. Ethan jumped up to it and reached out.

Once it was in his hands the world began to fade.

And Ethan's world went black

———————

Ethan awoke back in his office, sitting at his desk, alive and seemingly unharmed. He looked around in confusion and checked the time.

3 AM

"Huh? When did I..." he mumbles to himself, leaning back and rubbing his head. "I was... okay so was that balloon thing real? And what about- oh SHIT Springtrap!" Ethan swore and scrambled to pick up the tablet and find the robot. Soon he found him standing in front of the balloon boy poster, just starring at it in confusion. Was he there the whole time?

"...you're confused too huh bud?" He gave a hollow chuckle.

**"Oh! You're back!"** Ethan heard a female voice behind him and looked back. Standing a little too close for comfort was phantom Chica, she was looking at him eagerly. "Uh... yah what just-"

**"You know I didn't think Mari was right about the whole window thing but then you went into one and I was like Wow! He actually did it! Though you did just disappear and that was scary."** She interrupted and continued to ramble. Ethan just slowly nodded and let her talk, he glanced down at the tablet and noticed phantom puppet in the corner, was she going to talk to Springtrap?

**"Hey! Are you listening?"** Phantom Chica was suddenly behind the tablet and poked her head though, causing Ethan to jump.

"Oh! Uh yah sorry. Just uh, saw the puppet." He explained while tilting the tablet towards the chicken. She looked over and made a soft gasp. **"Uh oh! I hope they don't start fighting. Mari is really scary when she's mad."** Chica worried, she had moved onto the desk now, just sitting on the edge.

"Huh... I didn't get that impression off them..." Ethan mumbles. Then he gets an idea. "Wait, if they fight that'd be a distraction," Ethan starts to stand up causing Chica to tilt her head. **"What do you mean mister Ethan?"**

"I'm going to the arcade machine" the man declares before checking the tablet one last time, it does look like phantom puppet and Springtrap are in a stand off.

It's the perfect distraction for him to slip past.

**"I'll go with you! I know the quickest way there"** Chica offers and Ethan smiles at her. "Thanks a bunch, lead the way."

The two quickly snuck over to the abandoned arcade machine, it had streamers hanging off of it and a mask light beside it. "Hm, does it work?" He asked and the chicken shrugged. **"I've played the game in it before! But I don't know if it's physically available to play."** She explains. Ethan jiggles the joystick hoping for some reaction.

Unfortunately the screen remained blank.

"So.. this has to be another one of those.. what did you call it? Windows?" Ethan asked and the chicken nods. **"Yes sir! Mari called them windows I'm not sure how they work though, I just know we can't get in directly."** Ethan nods as she talks, he glances over at the buttons. Thinking back to the code he found he reached a hand over to the buttons and entered them.

The arcade cabinets screen buzzed with static.

And Ethan's world went black

—————————

Once again Ethan awoke in a strange place, glancing up he found those blue bunny ears floating above his head.

"So the outfit change is staying? Great." He pushed himself off the floor and looked around, the walls were a purple color and there were platforms and blue windows lining the wall.

"Okay, So is this another balloon thing again or-"

"Mister Night guard?" A familiar voice called from above him. The man looked up. "Huh? Mangle?"

He soon found a pink and white fox head looking over at him from a platform, they gasped and smiled. "It is! ITS MISTER NIGHT GUARD!" She cheered. Ethan waved and jumped over to her, though he was immediately concerned to see the fox even more broken than before. "What happened?" He asked, their ears fell and Mangle explained. "The kid broke me. My parts are scattered everywhere! I can't get them on my own anymore." She looked dejected And Ethan, deciding that this sad fox needed help. Scooped her up into his arms, it was surprisingly easy as the robot wasn't very heavy. "Good thing the night guard is here to help! Where's the first piece?" He smiles and soon the fox gives her own wide grin in return, she points her head over towards another platform. "That way mister night guard!" Ethan nods and starts jumping his way over soon enough they reached a platform with an endo head laying there. Mangle picks it up with their mouth and attached onto their shoulder, it blinks owlishly at both of them, her tail wagged happily as Ethan looks around for the next piece. He soon spots a green shirt wearing kid and looks down at him.

"Is that the kid that broke you?" He asks and mangle nods. So he decides to call out to them.

"Hey! What's the big deal anyhow?" The kid looks up, it's expression blank. "Didn't your parents teach you not to break what isn't yours?" The kid stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry before running off.

Ethan sighs. "Well lets just try to avoid him" he says with a shrug. Mangled nods and soon he's hopping to another platform. Together they put back mangled arm, and leg and soon they were back in one piece Ethan put her back down next to a wall at the end of the room, he noticed the exit, but looked around a little confused.

"What's wring mister night guard?" Mangle asked with a tilt of their head.

"Uh, it just I don't know, it feels like I'm missing something?" He scratched the back of his head. Mangle stayed quiet for a long moment. "Is something wrong?" He asked, Mangle looked up at him as spoke. "I'm really sorry for this mister night guard." And before Ethan could respond she kicked him though the wall.

And Ethan fell down and down into a black and red void

He didn't have any balloons to slow his fall so he landed on the ground hard. But somehow he was unhurt, he shakily pushed himself up to his knees, heart racing in his chest.

"Y-you know what? Next time I'll toss myself into an invisible wall." He sputters before looking up and freezing.

Looming over the blue man was a large puppet like figure, its tears came down in waterfalls from its eyes. Ethan shutters, and slowly stands up.

"Uh, excuse me... just passing though" he whispers while speed walking past the figure. He was soon met with a staircase of giant red balloons, he looked up to were they lead and saw a moon with something waiting on its edge.

"Hm... video game logic dictates I follow this path... hope these balloons are sturdy" Ethan quips before jumping up onto the balloon platform. despite being made of a stretchy elastic the balloons felt solid and secure. Ethan let out a relieved sigh before continuing to climb up the red staircase to the moon. Once he landed on the crescent he saw what the item was. It was a pink and yellow, layered cake with striped blue candles on each layer. Hesitantly Ethan approached the baked good, and carefully He picked it up.

"A Cake? What's this for?" He asked, but before the universe could give him any answer, the world around him buzzed.

And Ethan's world went black.

—————————

Once again Ethan awoke at his office, he looked around to get his bearings and checked his phone.

5 AM

Just an hour left.

"...time works weird at those windows huh?" He chuckled to himself as he picked up the tablet to check the cameras. He checked the last place he saw Springtrap and discovered that the decorations and present boxes were scattered, it was a mess. Ethan winced, did Phantom Puppet really fight Springtrap? He looked up from his tablet and nearly fell out of his seat when he found the hulking rabbit standing at the window. Ethan clicked to use an audio lure but instead it buzzed and gave him an audio error. "Oh lovely timing on that" he hissed before looking up at the rabbit.

He didn't have long until 6 am locked the animatronic in place, so Ethan decided to do what he did best.

Blullshit his way to victory.

"Heyyyy Aw man haven't seen you in forever Springy! How've you been?" He tried to act casual, even leaning back in his seat and lazily grinning at the rabbit. It didn't respond.

"Man so uh, that poster thing? Didn't expect it to actually take me anywhere, weird huh? That's gotta be paranormal activity! Though uh, with all these phantoms it shouldn't be too surprising if this place is haunted, right man?" He paused as to give time for the rabbit to respond, but again Springtrap never answers, instead he glared daggers though the window, unmoving. "So uh..." Ethan was running out of things to say and he knew that the robot wouldn't entertain this little game much longer so he finally spit something out.

"Ya like jazz?"

The robot growled, a mechanical sound that sent a shiver up Ethan's spine, but then it did something Ethan didn't expect. It spoke.

"**You're-re exceedingly a-annoying.**"

His voice was raspy, glitching, and filled with static. But Ethan could detect some sort of accent coming though. The man didn't expect a response, so he stupidly just gave a thumbs up and a smile. "Good to know" He squeaked out. But alas his distraction had reached its pique and Springtrap started marching over to the office, Ethan scrambled to reset the audio but there wasn't enough time. Soon Springtrap was at the door and Ethan just locked eyes with him, putting the two in an intense staring contest, one waiting for the other to falter and make a move.

Ethan didn't dare move,

He didn't dare blink.

His mind was screaming for 6 am to hit so he could run away.

His hand was on the desk, ready to push him off and away, maybe he'd get a little distance between them so he could run, but where would he run? The vents? He's pretty sure the rabbit can crawl faster than him. If not he could always wait at the other side and grab the man as he climbed out of the vents.

Springtrap then took a heavy step forward, casing Ethan to flinch, and just as he though the rabbit was going to charge a bell rang though the building. Springtrap soon Locked up with wide eyes, then let out an annoyed growl at once again being robbed of his victory.

Ethan doubled over and let out a long, staggered breath he was holding. "Oh my god! We can't keep cutting it this close Spring" he half laughs as he pushed himself up from the chair, his legs shook, but he continued to talk.

"You know, I-I didn't think you could talk. Pretty stupid of me right? I mean all the others can talk so why couldn't you? Silly me right? Hah!" He laughed as he shakily picked up his things, Springtrap continued to glare at the man. "Anyways, I should- should get going, uh, see you tomorrow, maybe we can talk again?" He smiles before squeezing past Springtrap and jogging out the door.

And soon Ethan was out of the building and driving home.

————————

Ethan tossed his things aside and flopped onto the bed. He decided to think over what he accomplished today. He found some parallel ghost world where he was dressed as some fancy bunny, got balloons and cake, fell into voids twice, got shoved twice, and had a few close calls with Springtrap. He also talked to the phantoms and put up a list of names for Phantom freddy. The man sighed into his bed sheets.

"Was that a net positive? Did I do something good today?" He Asked to nobody in particular. Rolling onto his back he looked up at the ceiling. Slowly, he started to chuckle but soon it evolved into a heavy laughing fit, the whole situation was so ridiculous! Who was going to believe him when he said he was hunted by a rotted rabbit robot and only escaped thanks to ghosts, and portals to game worlds where he was some rabbit guy. Without context it made him sound crazy. He continued to laugh and laugh until his sides hurt and he was gasping for air, he curled onto his side and held his stomach, tears clouding his vision from his laughing fit.

"God, there's gotta be something wrong with me. Who In their right mind would stick around this freakshow for more than one night?" He coughed, before removing his glasses to rub his eyes. "Everyone but me I guess... but that's pretty normal huh?" He put his glasses aside and kicked his shoes off, he was too tired to get changed, or maybe he was too tired to care? Whatever the reason Ethan wanted to curl up onto the covers and hide away from the world in a dead sleep.

So he closed his eyes and that's what he did.

——————

_The walls were covered in colorful plaid patterns, Ethan was standing in the middle, to his right was Fritz. His back was turned, Ethan tried to run to his brother, reaching out, dashing, clawing, anything to get to fritz._

_But no matter how hard he tries fritz just got further and further away. _

_Ethan tried to call to him, yelling, screaming, pleading, anything for fritz to hear him._

_But no matter how hard he tries Fritz just got further and further away._

_Ethan fell to his knees, sobbing, crying, wailing, he didn't want to loose him, he didn't want to loose the only family that cared for him!_

_But no matter how hard he tries fritz just got further and further away._

_And then he was gone._

_The walls turned a dull grey, and started to crumble, splinter, shatter into pieces cutting into Ethan's skin, his blood was a cool red, Ethan kneeled frozen, he didn't try to escape his aching, slicing, searing pain at all._

_He accepted that he would die._

_He curled up, pressing his head to the floor, accepting his fate, when suddenly two purple hands broke out of the floor, grabbing Ethan's arms._

_And pulling him under._

_~~~~~~~~_

_Ethan opened his eyes and found himself in a familiar setting. It was the old pizzeria, he looked down and saw his cuts were gone._

_It was a dream._

_And he was pulled into another one._

_"You are quite a hassle" Ethan looked up and saw the purple bear was holding his arms. The man blinked "what?"_

_"I'm supposed to show you the past, not save you from your nightmares." The bear lets go and turns around._

_"Now will you follow me or go off on your own again?" He asked impatiently._

_"I... uh..." Ethan shook his head. "I've gotta check the wall first." He stated before running off in that direction. The bear was probably following him, Ethan could sense it, but he had to check. Soon enough he reached the wall with the message he found before and found something new. Four cupcakes were pictured on the wall. Ethan hums. "Wonder what that means" he muses out loud. The bear scoffs._

_"It means what you think it does, now come on. Follow Me" he turned and started walking, again Ethan did as commanded._

_Once they reached the stage Bonnie lifted his head and jumped off of it, leaving his guitar behind. "Man, knowing what's about to happen I feel bad for the guy" Ethan commented, to his surprise the shadow bear nods. "The past is set in stone, but we can learn from it and improve the future."_

_"Yah.. So uh.. why are you showing me this?" He asked, the bear remained silent for a moment._

_"At her request, For you to understand" He answers._

_"Understand what? I thought this was puppets way of communicating?" He asked but the bear didn't answer, they had reached the safe room and Bonnie couldn't enter. Soon enough the purple man came running out of the room swinging his axe and breaking Bonnie into pieces. _

_Ethan looks away, but noticed shadow freddy was standing tall next to him. The bear looked down with his glowing white eyes and asked Ethan a simple question._

_"Do you wish to know more?"_

_"More what?" Ethan asked, but before the bear could answer the world fuzzed and the shadow bear disappeared._

_And Ethan's world went black._

—————

_The Idiotic guard had gotten away again._

_And Springtrap wasn't happy, he had moved to his usual starting position, not by his own will but the suits._

_He hated how the suit controlled him during the day. The daytime mode was helpful in the past, but now it was a hindrance he'd rather be rid of. As he sat against the wall settling in his own rage, but to his surprise a visitor walked in._

_It was phantom Chica._

_Springtrap looked up at the ghost and blinked._

_"**Wh-what do you-u wan-nt?**" His voice box was glitched, it was harder to speak than he'd like. He would have to get used to it, but he didn't see much reason to speak. But phantom Chica spoke, folding her hands nervously._

_"Are you going to kill him? The night guard?" She asked, innocently, Springtrap almost laughed. Was that even a question that needed to be asked?_

_"Yes, I w-will kill hi-im when I ca-atch him" he growled. Phantom Chica twiddles her thumbs before speaking again._

_"**Why? Do you have a reason?****" **She asked, Springtrap looked up at her and answered her silly question._

_"Do I need a reason to?" He looked back to the floor, expecting this to be the end of it._

_But no, she continued, and her next question surprised him._

_"Did... did you have a reason for killing us?" Springtrap looked up, he opened his mouth to answer, of course he did, he clearly had a reason to commit those murders. But he froze. He had a reason, he was sure he did. But what was it? He closed his mouth and tried to think hard. He had a reason, he had to have one. Why would someone who liked kids want to kill them? He had a reason, he had a motive._

_But he had forgotten it._

_How long has he forgotten it though?_

_Phantom chica silently left when Springtrap didn't give her an answer. He just sat there in silence._

_He sat there trying to remember something he had long since forgotten._


	5. Chapter 5: Pirates and Past-tense

**{sorry for the wait! But hey updating once a month is better than not at all right? Anyway enjoy this chapter _}**

_The phantoms stood crowded near the wall._

_Hanging from one of the drawings was a list of names._

_**"You're saying that night guard lad brought this in with em'?"** Phantom foxy asked and phantom freddy nodded._

_**"Yes, I asked him to leave it here and he did. I just.. thought it would help" **the bear looks over at the list, they all knew what he wanted to happen._

_It's sad to say they all forgot their names after so long._

_Phantom B.B. shrugged and walked away,** "I Don't See How Some List Is Going To Help, But Knock Yourselves Out!"** He laughed before disappearing to who knows where. Freddy sighed, Chica was studying the list hard, as if it would magically reveal the truth to them all._

_But it was just a simple list, it was not magical. Phantom freddy sighed. "**I'm sorry, I just thought..."** phantom foxy came over and pat the bear on the back. **"Ye just be tryin to help us, Captain. I appreciate the effort ye makin"** the fox comforted. Freddy shook his head before disappearing into a wall. Soon enough the other phantoms faded off, leaving foxy alone._

_Foxy looked at the list again, pausing at one name that stood out to him._

_Fritz._

_That was the name of the night guard right?_

_**"Hrnn... I be paying the scallywag a visit then"** foxy nodded to himself before he too faded into a wall._

_Leaving the place quiet._

—————————————-

It was another day that Ethan didn't want to get out of bed.

He was stiff and he had a headache. Ethan let out a tired groan. This was not a good time to have a bad day. Ethan rolled onto his side and stared blankly at the wall, idly wondering if he could come in late.

But that idea was quickly rejected because he knew Springtrap would be waiting for him in the office. Maybe the phantoms could hold him off? No, they aren't physical, the best they could do is be a distraction.

Then the idea crossed the man's mind, it was simple, innocent, yet oh so tempting.

What if he just never went back?

What if he just stayed in bed forever and left the haunted building to its own devices.

It would be easy, he'd just have to stay home, maybe skip town, it wouldn't be very hard to just up and disappear.

Up and disappear...

His mind thought back to his brother Fritz. The night he left. He came home pail and shaking. Ethan could never forget his expression as he suddenly started packing.

And just like that he was gone.

If he just up and left these ghosts on their own he'd be no better than Fritz.

That's what did it, with a tired sigh he rolled out of bed to get ready for another round of hell.

————

Ethan arrived back to Fazbears fright, his hair was messy since he didn't bother brushing it, I mean, would anyone really care? He didn't think spring mcmurder over here would bat an eye if Ethan did his hair up all pretty. The man soon arrived in his office and sank into the chair, raising the tablet to try and find the rotten rabbit.

But instead he was greeted with a phantom fox looking up at him from the cameras.

"Huh? Is that another-"

**"AHOY! Ye scurvy landlubber, I be needing a moment with ye!"** Just as suddenly as he appeared on the camera suddenly phantom foxy was standing in the room next to the box of animatronic pars. Ethan let out a startled scream which actually made the phantom flinch, briefly looking worried before quickly putting back on his tough look and standing tall.

**"So will ye be answerin my questions? Or will he be shaking like a pice of seaweed?" **The fox put its arm on his hip, that's when Ethan noticed he only had one arm. The other was just a nub, he briefly remembered the hook arm that was in the prop box... Ethan decided to shake the thought away for now. "Uh- y-yah sure I'll do my best. Not exactly a sea of knowledge though so sorry if I don't have any answers, er, Captain" Ethan shot the phantom a quick grin, noticing the fox relaxing more at being addressed as captain. **"Well ye be as kind as me crew says! That's what I be lookin for in a man. Now let's cut to the chase; ye brought In that list the other night and I noticed a name on it, thought it looked familiar. So I be wondering. Do ye know anything about a lad named Fritz?"**

Ethan visibly flinched at the name. Foxy must have noticed, the man was quiet for a long moment, trying to avoid the question by flipping through the cameras.

**"That be a yes then?"** The fox squinted at the Man, who slowly nodded. "Well.. I know a fritz. My uh...my brother." His voice got quieter as he spoke. The fox nodded. **"Ah, 'tis a family matter then? I hope ye don't mind if I press for more info."** Foxy phrases it like a question but Ethan had a feeling he would continue on even if the man said no. So he just lured Springtrap away and mumbled. "Do what you want."

**"Ya see, back when I still had me body, there was a new face that appeared one night, the last lad had gone off somewhere and must 'ave been replaced. Thinking back I think the lad looked like ye, maybe a bit younger tis have been a while." **The fox chuckled as Ethan slowly started to tighten his grip on the tablet, he didn't want to hear what came next. He wanted to just run off and hide, or maybe just let Springtrap catch him, death by zombified bunny seemed much better than this. But the fox continued.

**"We scared the britches off the lad! Mari was tryin to get him to help but none of us were havin it, we still be mad and that lad be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Barely survived the night he did! But survive he did with his tail between his legs, never saw the lad again after that."** The fox paused and asked the dreaded question Ethan knew was coming.

**"So what I be askin is, do ye know what became of him afterwards? I'm sure yer connected to him somehow, bet me hook on it!"** The fox looked over at Ethan expectantly. The man was shaking, his grip on the device becoming tight enough that his knuckles turned white. All at once he slammed the decide down and stood up.

"...You want to know what happened?" He mumbled slowly, his voice picking up with each word, "that night he got back, he packed his things and left. Didn't even say goodbye to his only brother, who he was close with, who was all the man had left after his parents kicked him out of the family; and instead of telling him anything he fucked off to god knows where leaving me alone!" Ethan's emotions boiled over and all at once he stormed out of the room, he was vaguely aware of the fox calling out for him to come back but Ethan didn't listen. He wanted to punch something until his fists bled, he wanted to cry until his throat burned, he wanted to laugh until his lungs ached, something anything to get is mind off of his brother.

At this point he didn't care if he ran into Springtrap

Death by that robots hands would feel like a mercy.

His path was suddenly and unceremoniously stopped as he suddenly tripped over something. He landed on the floor with a loud thump, causing the man to curl up and hiss in pain. He looked back trying to find whatever tripped him up and saw a darkly colored cupcake innocently sitting there.

"W-what the hell?" He croaked while reaching out to pick up the strange Pastry. It felt oddly chilly in his hand before suddenly fizzling out of existence with an odd sound.

"...what was... oh right, cupcakes" Ethan groaned as he slowly tried to push himself to his feet. He wanted to just sit there, maybe the cold of the building could seap into his bones and freeze him solid? Maybe then he could forget. It sounded nice, a quiet way to go... but the universe decided he didn't deserve that mercy, as heavy footsteps soon found him. Ethan didn't even have to turn around to know that Springtrap had found him, and was looming over him.

"Oh, hey, you found me, cool" he deadpanned, not turning to look up at the rabbit. Springtrap must not have been amused as he suddenly grabbed the scruff is Ethan's sweatshirt and heavily tossed the man across the room. Ethan's form went limp as he crashed against the prop present boxes with a loud THUNK! A whine escaped his lips as he heard the stomping of the animatronic approaching again. Ethan would have just accepted his fate then and there, but another cupcake caught his eye, he shakily reached out and put a hand on it, and just like the other it fizzled out. Ethan remembered the promise he made earlier that week, he couldn't really just die here could he? That'd be even worse than just running away, he would have failed...

And Ethan desperately didn't want to be a failure.

With a sudden rush of adrenaline Ethan pushed himself onto his feet and spotting Springtrap from the other side of the room. the man flashed a shit eating smile towards him. "You want me? Come and get me Springbitch" and with a push he dashed into the other room. His pace was slower than he'd like, the pain from before making it harder to run, but Ethan just needed enough time to find the rest of those cupcakes, then he'd be in the clear. Dashing into the next room he grabbed the cupcake on a box, Springtrap was following quickly on the man's heels, kicking aside boxes and growling. Ethan ducked into the next room and reached for the next cupcake that was balancing on a prop head, one more left, but Springtrap was close to grabbing him. Ethan spotted the final cupcake on the floor, and just as he thought the rabbit would grab him he lunged over and grabbed the final cupcake, as it faded so too did Ethan's consciousness.

And Ethan's world went black.

—————————

Ethan awoke to a room where the walls were green, he was laying face down on the floor, and honestly his back hurt so he just stayed there groaning,

"Mister Ethan? Oh my goodness! Are you okay?" Footsteps approached and Ethan slowly lifted his head and looked up to see Chica standing above him, but she looked different than the phantom Ethan remembered, for one she was thinner, smaller, and had pink cheeks and tights on. Ethan slowly blinked up at her, "Uh... did you get a haircut?"

"Oh! You noticed? I did, do you like it?" Chica giggles and offered a hand to help the man up. Ethan gives a short nod in thanks, but Chica must have noticed something off about him. "Is something wrong? You don't look so good." She looked concerned, Ethan knew she would ask and desperately didn't want to bring up his own problems. "I.. I don't want to talk about it" He dismisses while looking away, Chica gave a quiet "oh" and nodded, leaving the two standing in silence for a few beats.

Chica then slowly started pushing a pink and yellow cupcake into the man's hands. "Want to help me pass out cupcakes then?" She offers with a kind smile.

Ethan slowly nods. "Yah..." Chica grins and lightly placed a hand on his shoulder, leading him further into the green room.

The area was almost like a maze, with blue wearing kids crying out for cupcakes. A few had red shirts and were happily eating the cake they were given. "I already gave a few out, but there's still a handful of hungry kiddos, I got all the cakes we just need to hand them out." Chica explains as Ethan nods. Soon they split up and it wasn't long before Ethan has passed out all the cakes he was given, he meets back up with Chica on a platform. She smiles at him. "Great! but there's one kiddo left."

"Really? Where are they? I didn't see anyone else" Ethan asks, Chica answers by pointing at a wall. Ethan knows what's up and deadpans "you're not going to shove me though the invisible wall are you?"

"What? Oh goodness no! Who was doing that!"

"Literally everyone else" Ethan sighs and Chica lightly pats his back. "She should be though there though, you've got a cake just for her." She answers, Ethan looks up confused. "I do? Since when did I have..." He trails off remembering that large birthday cake he found the night before, he slowly nods. "Right.. right! I do have cake. Okay! One birthday cake coming right up." He pumped himself up before jumping through the wall.

Mercifully his fall was short, landing in a smaller room with two red balloons acting as a staircase up to a grey child. As Ethan got closer he could see the child better. She was a little girl with short curly hair and a cute little dress that went down to her knees completing the outfit were ankle socks and black pump shoes. As Ethan approached the little girl looked up at him, she was clearly upset and this caused Ethan to pause. "Hey there, sorry if I'm bothering ya." Ethan waved to the girl who blinked up at him, it was almost like she recognized him but couldn't place the name.

"So I heard there was a kiddo needing cake, and I just happen to have some... somewhere where did I-" Ethan looks around himself trying to find somewhere that'd hold a cake, it couldn't be that hard to find something that big right? He held out his hands to shrug in defeat when suddenly that cake appeared in his outstretched hand, he stumbled to catch it so it wouldn't fall. Blinking for a beat he lightly jokes. "See that? That was magic, just for you kiddo. Definitely could do that this entire time, yep." The little girl actually giggled at the joke. Ethan carefully approached and kneeled to hand her the cake. Once she had it she seemed to light up, her eyes filling with recognition.

"Mister Ethan!" She spoke, and it startled Ethan.

Because she sounded just like Chica.

"Woah! Chica?" He blinked in surprise but the girl shook her head. "I remembered! I remember you and my doggie and, and my name! It's Susie!" She cheered lightly. Putting the cake down she suddenly jumped up and hugged Ethan's arm. "I remember I remember! Thank you thank you thank you!" She bounced on her feet and giggles, the joy was contagious and Ethan couldn't help but let out a laugh of his own, he smiled at her. "You're welcome Susie." The child let go and stepped back to the cake, waving goodbye, Ethan waved back.

And then Ethan's world went black.

—————————

Ethan awoke back in his office. He pulled out his phone and checked the time

4pm

His back ached and he remembered being tossed earlier, letting out a soft grown he pillowed his head in his arms, just taking in a brief moment of silence.

But was soon interrupted by marionette appearing next to him.

**"Ethan?"** She lightly tapped his shoulder, causing the man to jerk up from his position. "I'm up I'm up." He shook his head and cleared his jumbled thoughts.

**"My apologies, but I wanted to check in on you. Foxy said you ran off suddenly and... well he was worried." **She explained, Ethan looked down at the tablet on the table. "Oh, sorry about that..." he mumbled. **"It's alright, I just wanted to make sure you were alright"** she reassured.

Ethan thinks back to something foxy said during their chat. Looking over to the phantom puppet he quickly asked. "Wait, did you know fritz? I mean, back when uh, he was working at that new Freddy's place?" This caused the puppet to pause. An unreadable expression passed her face and she looked to the side.

**"I... yes, I knew of him."** She quietly answered. Ethan was silent.

"...was it true that you scared him off then?" He asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

**"I didn't mean... you have to understand, I wanted to help my friends find peace.. I thought he could help since Jeremy was.."** she cut herself off, she tried reaching out to Ethan but pulled her hand back.** "I'm sorry, I was desperate and stupid, my meddling didn't help him during his night. I would take it all back if I could"** she answered honestly, Ethan continued to stare down at the tablet.

So she was part of the reason Fritz left so suddenly? He wanted to blame her, wanted to be mad for taking his only family he had away. But then he remembered Susie, how happy she was to be helped, to be saved. Ethan had actually done something good, he couldn't say he's done something like that in a long time. So instead of getting mad, he took a deep breath in, and out.

"It's fine," he answered, "You didn't know."

**"Are you mad at me?"** Phantom puppet asked, Ethan couldn't help but notice how childish the question sounded, but also how genuinely nervous she looked. He waves his hand. "A little bit, but I'll get over it. It's in the past, can't change it anymore." He looks over and gives the puppet a small smile. She soon returned it with her own grateful grin. Ethan checked the time,

It was 5AM

He spotted Springtrap nearby and decided to do something possibly risky, but hey he was suddenly in a Better mood so why not? Phantom puppet made her exit but Ethan briefly stopped her to ask, "Hey so uh the other day, did you have a fight with Springtrap?"

**"Oh that? It was just a disagreement"**

"But there were props thrown everywhere"

**"It was a vocal disagreement"** Ethan didn't entirely believe that but he didn't press any further and they went their separate ways.

6am was approaching and Ethan saw Springtrap coming towards the window, so he decided to put his plan into action, he made sure everything was in order, and when he looked up the rotten rabbit was staring him down from the window. Ethan put on a casual smirk, and waved.

"Heya springding. How are you?"

No answer.

"Ah, okay silent treatment again? That's fair, I'll just keep talking then."

Springtrap started glaring at the man.

"Okay, first off, I'm sorry about the springbitch comment, I was in a bad mood." Ethan paused, "but that isn't an excuse, I shouldn't have said that. And I'm sorry,"

The rabbit slowly blinked at him.

"I'm not expecting any sorta forgiveness, I mean I'm pretty sure you hate me either way, but uh... yah"

Springtrap looked like he was about to make his way to the office, but his ear twitched and he realized how close it was to 6am. He shot the man a dirty glare and Ethan responded with a smirk and a shrug. "Not one for conversation then?" He asked innocently.

"**Your luck will run out soon enough**" Springtrap threatened before walking off. Not long after the bell signaling 6 am rang.

And Ethan's calm posture crumbled. He let out a huge breath of air and a laugh. Cutting it so close like that wasn't a good idea, but then again when has Ethan smith ever had good ideas? With a final sigh he stood up, and immediately regretted it because his back ached in protest. He hissed in pain and rubbed his back. "That's going to bruise bad." He mumbled as he grabbed his few items and made his way to the exit.

On his way out Ethan didn't see phantom Chica watching him leave, she waved him off with a grin.

——————

Back home Ethan wanted to flop right into his bed, but he knew he should probably check his back, and bandage any wounds he might have gotten from being tossed. So he pulled off his hoodie and shirt in one go and trudged into his bathroom. Craning his neck to look back at the mirror he saw several dark bruises starting to form on his back, he curiously poked one and hissed in pain. "Yep, that's going to leave a mark." He mumbled while leaving the bathroom, "at least nothings bleeding..."

after slipping into something comfortable, a baggy novelty t shirt and some pants, Ethan climbed into bed. After struggling to find a position that wasn't painful for his back he soon drifted off to sleep.

———————

_He was in a dark void, surrounded by a blanket of cold._

_He looked around and saw nothing._

_He felt nothing._

_Only the cold tightening its grip on him._

_Then he felt something grab his arms and pull hims down._

_Ethan recognized the old dream Pizzeria when he saw it, he also recognized the voice that spoke._

_"We can't make this a habit Ethan, it's not my job to pull you from your dreams."_

_He saw the shadow bear standing next to him, holding some kind of pocket watch which he quickly shut and put away... somewhere did this guy have pockets Ethan didn't know about?_

_"Uh, right but first I need to-"_

_"Check the wall, of coarse, come along then" the bear spoke then started walking towards the side room, Ethan blinked in confusion._

_"Wait, you're not going to like... yell at me for not following you?"_

_"Ethan, you have a pattern to your behavior, as all humans do. If I don't adapt then I'd simply be wasting valuable time. Now will you go get that clue of yours or stand there gaping until the sun blows up?"_

_Ethan stayed quiet and quickly caught up to the bear. "Good choice."_

_Ethan looked up at the wall once he got there and blinked up at it dumbly, it had a long stream of numbers written on it._

_"Okay, Uh, lets see 39, 52, 48. That shouldn't be hard to remember!... wait what was it again?" Ethan struggled to memorize the code before the shadow bear let out a groan._

_"Give me your arm."_

_"Wait what?"_

_"Just give it" the bear ordered, Ethan slowly did as commanded and lifted an arm towards the bear._

_The shadow bear took it and used his finger to write out the code on Ethan's left arm, the numbers gave a soft white glow,_

_"That should due. Now let's go, we are on a schedule" the bear turned on his heels and Ethan wasn't far behind._

_"So uh, you talked about seeing more, what did you mean by that?" Ethan asked as they followed Chica off the stage_

_"I'm simply showing you what needs to be seen, but there is more that has happened that cannot be seen by the naked eye" the bear explains as they get closer to the safe room._

_"What is like is there more like secret backstage pass or like there's some ants that are here but I don't see since they're not important?" Ethan questions. The bear silently ponders for a moment and answers. "The ant comparison isn't inaccurate." He hums. Soon Chica had reached her final destination. Ethan stood beside the shadow bear as once again the purple man charged at the animatronic with an axe and tore her apart. Ethan winced. "Jeeze, you think he's trying out for a slasher movie villain with how swing happy he is with that axe" he joked, but nobody thought it was funny. Suddenly the bear put a hand on the man's shoulder and pointed towards the remains of the recently broken animatronic. "There, do you see it now?"_

_"See wha-" Ethan was cut off as he noticed something hovering around the broken pieces. They were tiny orbs of light that gave a soft yellow glow._

_"What... what is that?" Ethan asked but before anyone could give him an answer_

_Ethan's world went black._

_————————————_

_Springtrap sat alone in the room, some props were scattered around, kicked out of the way earlier by the robot. He expected to spend the day alone waiting for his programming to click into night mode._

_But someone had entered the room with him._

_**"Hey There Old Timer! Wanna Chat?"** Phantom B.B. grinned as he strode up to the animatronic._

_**"So This Night Guard Is Giving You Some Trouble, And I'm Personally Unhappy With How Calm Everything Has Been. I Came Here For Thrills! Not Some Boring Game Of Cat And Mouse."** The phantom laughed, if Springtrap could he would have hissed at him._

_**"But Let Me Get To The Point. You Hate Him, I Think He's Annoying. How About We Team Up? When He Comes In Tomorrow That Guard Won't Know What Hit Him!"** The boy grins devilishly towards the robot._

_Springtrap was tired of the nightguard getting away each night, if a team up is what was needed to finally corner him than so be it. Springtrap gave a short nod, it was the best he could do with his limited movement. Phantom BB smiled even wider. "Now That's What I'm Talking About! A Pleasure Working With You!" The phantom laughed and disappeared._

_Leaving Springtrap alone to fester in his building frustration and rage._


	6. Chapter 6: Highs and Lows

**_{sorry for the wait, holiday rush. Happy New Years everyone! Hope you'll enjoy_**

**_End of note}_**

_**"I don't like how quiet it's been lately"** phantom Freddy mumbles while leaning against the arcade cabinet. Chica looked up at him.** "Why's That freddy? I thought things were getting better!"** She smiles but her concern for her friend his clear. the others had been overjoyed when Chica, now Susie, remembered herself. It gave them all hope that they could be saved. But still freddy was getting worried. Mangle hung overhead and chimed in.** "IS IT BECAUSE OF B.B.? HES BEEN WEIRD LATELY TOO."** She exclaimed. Freddy was quiet, then asked. **"Hey... does anyone know if B.B. was possessed by any of us in the past?"** The room was silent._

_**"...we should keep an eye out for Mister Ethan"** Chica declares while stepping away from the arcade. **"He's doing so much to help us! It's about time we helped him back!"** Mangle nodded eagerly in response and Freddy soon gave his own nod of approval. **"I'll let the others know to keep an eye out for him."**_

_The phantoms soon departed, leaving the room empty._

_All except for one purple bunny sitting in the corner._

_She hummed and giggles, before standing up and skipping to the arcade. The cabinets screen buzzed and soon a pixelated image of a cake was on the screen._

_"Change is coming! I can feel it" they giggled before disappearing in a cloud of smoke._

—

Ethan woke up to his phone alarm blaring at him. He groggily reached over to silence it.

His back hurt and he had a headache, not a good combination. His stomach growled, demanding food. So Ethan reluctantly pulled himself out of bed, he decided he didn't want to see how badly his back has bruised so he just carefully put his hoodie on and put a hot pocket into the microwave. As the pocket slowly spun on the dish Ethan's mind began to wonder. Was going back really a good idea? Sure he was committed now but he actually got hurt.

Then again when was Ethan Smith known for making good decisions? When the microwave dinged Ethan took out his breakfast and went to take some pain medicine for his back, it wasn't too bad but the constant ache was bothering him. So after dry swallowing some aspirin he grabbed his keys and made his way to the car.

—

The building was as cold as ever. Ethan shivered as he walked inside, tossing his now empty hot pocket wrap into the trash can. He pooped himself back into the chair and rolled up his sleeve, still written on his forearm, dully glowing, was that number code from the night before.

"What does this mean anyway?" He wonders aloud.

**"What does what mean Sir Ethan?"** The man whipped around to find Phantom Freddy leaning over his shoulder, when did this guy even get here? Ethan didn't know.

"Uh, mystery code, not sure where to put it... you wouldn't happen to know of any secret magical cell phones or something would you?" Ethan questioned with a half smile. The bear hummed in thought and looked around the room, eventually zeroing In on the tile wall.

**"What about here?"** The bear pointed. Ethan blinked dumbly.

"That's a wall"

**"...but it's also a keypad"** Freddy states, leaving Ethan confused.

"A keypad? On the wall?"

**"Yes sir"**

"...you know what? Why am I even questioning this?" Ethan raised his hands, sighed, then knelt over to the spot where he bear pointed. Reading the tiles like a keypad he hovered a hand over where three would be and pushed, to his surprise there was a quiet click. "Well I'm an idiot! Never should have doubted you Freddy." The bear smiled proudly as Ethan put in the rest of the code on his arm.

Not long after Ethan's world went black.

—

Ethan opened his eyes to find himself on stage, to his side he found a large golden bear animatronic, and a slightly smaller bunny animatronic, below him were kids in the audience smiling.

"Okay, I didn't prepare anything and I suck at stand up." Ethan jokes. But he didn't get any reaction. It seemed like the animatronics didn't even recognize he was there. "Uh... hello?" The man waved a hand in front of the bear but it remained the same. "Weird..." Ethan mumbled while hopping off stage. "Guess I'm on my own this time, now where would a hidden wall be?" He hummed in thought as he ran a hand along the brown walls of the room, eventually he found a spot where his hand fell though. "Bingo!" He jumped through the wall, landing not far below. "Wait no bottomless void? Okay you won't hear me complaining." Ethan shrugged with a tired smile and walked forward, only to stop confused when he was back where he started, just on the other side. "Wait hold on what?" Ethan walked forward again and the same thing happened. "Oh no.. is this looping?" Ethan tried to go forward again but was stopped, "oh thank god it's not a loop." He gratefully sighed, but now there was another problem. "So, a maze then?" Ethan walked over to the brown box containing the mini scene from earlier, still playing on without a care in the world. "God, I suck at mazes" Ethan grumbled while looking around the box, he spotted some areas that jutted out like climbing rocks, Ethan felt like he knew what that meant. "Should have warn better climbing shoes... no wait I don't think it would have mattered, ghost world uniform" he looked down at his outfit, it was a dressy shirt and long pants and shoes, he silently hoped it wouldn't get ruined as he grabbed onto the wall and started climbing. Once at the top he saw one of the boxes from before, he also saw that there were some above him.

"...oh dear god That's a big maze" he whispered. After jumping around boxes for several minutes Ethan held up his hands and sat down. "Okay! I give up, I'm lost." He dipped his head in defeat. "I don't think I can find the exit either, shit" he swore under his breath. Just as he was considering accepting his new life In some ghost limbo something tapped his shoulder, the man whipped around so fast he heard his neck crack. He looked up to find a purple rabbit looking at him with wide eyes.

"Oh dear! Didn't mean to scare you." They smiled apologetically as the man scrambled to stand up.

"Uh, it's fine I was just- didn't think anyone was here" this got a laugh out of the rabbit.

"Need a hand?" They offered holding a hand out to them. The man hesitated, then nodded and took it. "Yes please." The bunny grinned and pulled Ethan along, back down the side, through some rooms, up again, and back into the stage room where the rabbit paused. Ethan was out of breath trying to keep up with the quick purple bunny, when he finally looked up, he saw what the rabbit was focused on.

One of the kids was gone.

"Ethan, do you think bad people deserve a second chance?" They asked suddenly, catching the man off guard.

"Uh what?"

"A second chance, do you think even the worst people deserve it?" They looked towards him, a solemn look on their face. Ethan paused, humming in thought.

"Uh, well I can't speak for everyone... but if you ask me, I think if they want to change and activity try to... I think they deserve that chance." This answer seemed to cheer up the bunny, who once again took his hand.

"Thanks. Let's go find that kiddo" the bunny smiled it's usual grin and once again pulled Ethan along. Soon they were standing across from an empty room, Ethan could spot a greyed out kid huddled inside. "This is your stop Ethan. Bye bye" the bunny waved and before Ethan could thank them they were gone.

The man blinked a few times. "Uh, thanks?" He sighed, holding his hands up the cake appeared in his palms, he gripped the edges and made the final jump over. The kid looked up at him, it was a younger boy with a plaid dress shirt and long pants, just covering his black shoes. His hair was short and styled onto one side. Ethan gave a kind smile. "Heya kiddo, sorry I'm late I'm terrible with directions" the kid was quiet, looking up at Ethan then the cake. "Check it out! This ones made just for you, an entire cake!... I don't think I could finish it all, I'll be honest with you" he joked, getting a small laugh from the kid, who made grabby hands for the cake. Ethan kneeled down and handed it over to the waiting child. Moments later his eyes lit up, as if he realized something. He gasped and grinned up to the man.

"Sir Ethan!" The kid jumped up and tackled the man into a hug, Ethan barely caught himself before falling back. He laughed, "hey! Give a man a warning before you do that uh... Freddy?" Ethan tilted his head.

"Gabriel! My name's Gabriel sir!" The kid grinned happily.

"Gabriel's a good name." Ethan nodded, the little boy laughed happily.

And Ethan's world went black.

—

Ethan woke up back at his desk, he blinked and yawned, feeling more tired than usual.

"Maybe all this shit is finally catching up with me? He mumbled while checking the time.

2AM

"Got the big stuff out early huh? That's a first" he chuckled while stifling another yawn. He jumped when a familiar pirate jumped out and exclaimed

**"Ethan lad! We got ourselves a situation!"** Ethan tiredly looked up at the fox. "Hm? What's up captain?" He said rubbing his eyes.

**"We lost track of the Springcracken, and we have a hunch that Balloon lad be in cahoots with em' this time."**

Ethan nodded, showing he acknowledged the sentence, but honestly, he just didn't seem to be that worried. He picked up the tablet and cycled through, spotting the other phantoms scattered about, but no B.B.

**"Lad did ye hear me? Ye could be in some real danger tonight!"** The fox phases through the window to put his face near the other man's.

"Huh? Oh uh yah yah, heard you loud and clear captain." Ethan nodded. Phantom foxy squinted at the Man and asked. "How much sleep have ye been gettin lately?"

"Uh you know... some..." Ethan gave a tired smile. He switched cameras and suddenly noticed something familiar. BB was uncomfortably close to the camera. Ethan swore quietly and tried to click away but it was too late suddenly phantom B.B. jumped from the screen with a screech, startling Ethan enough that he fell back and dropped the tablet.

**"Laddie!"** Phantom foxy exclaimed as Ethan rubbed the back of his head. Alarms were blaring and Ethan knew something was out, checking the other tablet mounted on the wall he saw two systems were out. He rebooted both but it took a long time. It's fine, Springtrap couldn't be that close anyway-

**"MISTER NIGHT GUARD THE VENTS!"** Phantom Mangle popped up behind the window with a screech. Ethan tried to reach for the tablet but Phantom B.B. jumped him again, screeching and causing Ethan to fall to the floor. Phantom foxy charged and grabbed the smaller phantom by the shirt with his good arm. **"What ye be doin!? Tryin to kill the man?"** The fox accused. B.B. grinned devilishly. **"Oh I'm Not."** The phantom laughed.

**"He Is"**

Ethan froze when he saw that Springtrap had crawled through the vents and was looming over Ethan. He tried to scoot away but the rotten rabbit was faster. He grabbed the guard by the scruff of his hoodie and slammed him against the wall, knocking the air out of his lungs and glasses off of his face. Mangle screamed, and phantom foxy tossed B.B. through the wall and tried to tackle Springtrap, but the phantom phases right through the rabbit. Ethan was pinned to the wall by the rabbit, who had a tight grip on his throat. The man vaguely heard foxy tell Mangle to go get the puppet, by Ethan don't listen. He was to focused on Springtrap and the rage burning behind his eyes. He wasn't sure what pushed him to do it, maybe the stress of the week was finally getting to him.

But Ethan laughed.

It was choked, as he could hardly fill his lungs, but he laughed in the rabbits face, which only seemed to make him angrier.

"Are you gonna kill me?" The man grinned, his tired expression looking more crazed and desperate. "Then do it already! I've got nothing keeping me here!" Ethan laughed maniacally, Springtrap stayed quiet. The man wasn't aware of phantom puppet not standing in the window, looking shocked and afraid. Ethan's grip on the rabbits arm tightened with one final challenge.

"_Do it!_"

Springtrap stayed silent, his hand tightened around the man's throat, as if at any moment it'd snap tighter and cut off the air completely.

But...

All at once the simple question Phantom Chica asked surfaced in his mind. 'Did you have a reason to kill us?' It bothered him, why was it bothering him? He had the annoying night guard right where he wanted him! This is what he wanted wasn't it? To have the man squirming under his grip as the life faded from his eyes?

Then why did it feel wrong all of a sudden?

Was it because...

All at once the anger drained, Springtrap widened his eyes as if seeing what he was really doing for the first time. He dropped the man, who crumbled into the floor while coughing and gasping for air. Springtrap stepped back, almost horrified. What was he doing? He looked at the man one last time. Then quickly left the room, refusing to look at any of the phantoms he passed.

Phantom puppet watched wide eyed as he disappeared around the corner, she wasn't sure she really just witnessed that. But she didn't have time to question it as her priority was with Ethan. She quickly floated over to him.

**"Ethan! Are you alright?"** She asked, placing her hand on his shoulder, she wasn't physical but Ethan definitely felt the cold ghost touch him. He took a few deep breaths, looking surprised. Then he smiled, it was an excited, genuine expression as he laughed once again. Unlike before this laugh was filled with relief, joy, and maybe shock. **"Ethan? What's wrong? Speak to me."**

"Oh my god! He has a chance!" He laughed, much to the phantoms confusion.

**"What? Ethan you're in shock, you're talking nonsense"** Phantom Puppet wondered if he should call himself an ambulance. The man calmed from his laughing fit finally and chuckled.

"Hehe, ha, hoo... I'm tired" he mumbled before leaning over and falling to the floor. The phantom puppet was worried he might have dropped dead then and there if not for the soft snoring he was making.

**"Did the laddie pass out from shock?"** Phantom Foxy, who had been watching the scene unfold while standing next to the desk, questioned. Puppet tried to wake him up with her cold ghost puppet hands but he seemed to be out like a log.

**"I...I think he might need this"** she sighed, looking up to phantom foxy she ordered. **"Go ask and see if anyone else has found where Springtrap and B.B. have run off to. I'll stay with the night guard."** Phantom foxy nodded and with an, aye captain! He ran off. Phantom puppet looked down at the sleeping, disheveled night guard and sighed. She lightly pet through his hair in an attempt to comfort the man.** "I'm sorry to have put you through all of this Ethan. I won't be able to thank you enough for everything you've done"** to her surprise, nobody came to visit for them for several hours.

—

**"What Was That All About!?"** Phantom B.B. crossed his arms, glaring at the slumped over animatronic in front of him. Springtrap had retreated to the basement after he ran, he was huddled in the corner and was silent. **"You Had Him Right There! Why'd You Just Let Him Live!?"** The boy demanded, he was frustrated, so close to some good old fashioned chaos. But then Springtrap just messed it up! When the rabbit refused to answer the phantom huffed and continued. **"Don't Tell Me You're Going Soft On Me? You? Of All People!"** Finally the animatronic looked up, gave a small glare and grumbled.

"**Leave me alone...**" phantom BB raised his hands and growled.

**"Fine Then! This Partnership Is Over Anyway! Have Fun In Your Little Pity Party!"** Phantom B.B. stuck his tongue out and disappeared leaving the robot alone. Springtrap slowly rested his head in his hands, all the anger that had built up over the years seemed to vanish.

All that was left was a feeling of dread and a sickening realization; he had no idea why he was so bloodthirsty to begin with.

And now it was gone.

—

Ethan woke up stiff and cold on the office floor. His neck and back hurt terribly and his vision was blurry without his glasses.

But the phantoms in front of him were very clear, oddly enough.

**"Sir Ethan!"**

**"Oh thank goodness yer okay!"**

**"Foxy And Mangle told us what happened, is everything alright?"**

**"PLEASE DON'T DIE MISTER NIGHT GUARD!"**

**"Everyone! Please calm down, you'll overwhelm him!"** Phantom puppet tried to calm the others, but the rest of the phantoms (sans B.B.) were frantic and worried about the hooded man. Ethan blinked surprised, still groggy and asked the first thing that came to mind.

"Has anyone seen my glasses?" His voice was rough, but the phantoms understood him. Mangle scooted aside to gesture to where his glasses sat, one of the lenses was cracked. He reached over and sat up, carefully putting them on, one side was still okay so he could drive home. 'That's good,' he thought 'not sure what I'd do if I couldn't drive.' The phantoms were still hectically asking questions, wanting to make sure Ethan was alright. The man eventually calmed them when he reassured he was alright, if a little sore. They all paused when the bell rang for the end of the shift, Ethan shakily pushed himself to his feet. "Well, uh, that's my cue." He tried to excuse himself but soon found it clear the phantoms didn't indent for him to go home alone the man found himself stuck. "Uh, guys I'll be alright. Besides aren't you stuck in the building?"

**"I DON'T CARE I WANNA MAKE SURE YOU'RE SAFE!"** Mangle screeched and the others nodded. Phantom puppet cleared her throat. **"Not everyone can go with him. But if it will help ease your minds, I'll follow him home."** She volunteered, which seemed to help pacify the other spirits. Ethan shakily grabbed his things. "Okay, So uh... ready to go?"

**"One moment"** the puppet said, suddenly Ethan felt a cold chill up his spine, but soon after phantom puppet was next to him. She nodded showing she was ready, and the man left the building and the other phantoms behind.

And soon he drove home.

—-

To say it was weird knowing a ghost was following you is an understatement. There was an unsettling feeling of being watched constantly, and even though he knew Phantom Puppet wasn't going to hurt him, it was weird. Once home he offered to turn on the tv for her. She eventually settled on the local news Channel, Ethan wasn't sure why but hey he wasn't going to judge what a ghost wanted to watch.

"Uh, I'm going to get changed and cleaned up." He stated, phantom puppet nodded and sat on the couch. "I'll be back in a minute or two." He excused himself and went to the bathroom to check the damage. After removing the two layers of shirts he saw new bruises already forming from where he was grabbed, Ethan hissed slightly when he poked it. "Yah, that's gonna leave a mark" he mumbled. He still had the Aspirin bottom from that morning on his sink so he took a few more pills and washed his face. He was exhausted, even after that power nap earlier. So he just changed into his usual pajamas and trudged back into the living room. He grabbed a snack bar from the counter before sitting across from the ghost puppet to eat it. Both sat in silence for a long moment before the phantom spoke.

**"Ethan,"** Ethan knew that tone. The tone of a parent who isn't mad, but disappointed. He wasn't going to like this conversation.

"Yea?" He tried to remain casual.

**"What happened back there?"** She asked, Ethan tried to play it off. "Oh I just slipped up, my mistake won't happen again-"

**"Ethan when I found you, you were trying to get him to kill you. You can't just shrug _that_ off."** She crosses her arms. Ethan tried to shrink into the couch.

"Oh... uh... I might have had some previous issues that Uh... surfaced in the heat of the moment." He quietly admits. The puppet's expression turned from something resembling mild anger to pity, **"oh Ethan..."**

I mean I'm trying to work on it! I just Uh... haven't gotten around to that therapist appointment yet..." he mumbled even quieter. Phantom puppet rubbed the bridge of her mask where he nods would be and sighed. **"My meddling surely hasn't helped either has it?"**

"Uh, honestly you asking me for help has been the most I've done this month. So... thanks?" He shrugged. **"I knew the stakes, and yet you still got hurt. I'm very sorry,"**

"Don't worry about it, it's part of the job-"

**"No don't brush this off, I should know better! I should have known better- god I don't want to break you like I did Fritz!"** She exclaimed suddenly before covering her mask. Ethan silenced himself and glanced over. "...You didn't break him he just... disappeared..." he mumbled, before sighing and scooting closer. "Look I chose to get involved with this mess, even with my own issues. I'm not dropping out and I'm certainly too invested to just fuck off to Canada." She glanced up and Ethan grinned. "Besides I've got another thing keeping me involved now." The puppet tilted her head. **"And what would that be?"**

"I think I can help Old Springy there too" The man grinned. He seemed to genuinely believe this, to the puppet surprise. But given what she witnessed... she nodded. **"I wish you luck then."**

Ethan nodded and took another bite of his snack bar.

**"Also Ethan, I'm going to insist you get a full meal tomorrow and plenty of rest, the last thing I want is you passing out again."** The man laughed and nodded.

"Whatever you say Mom."

They spent the rest of the time chatting before Ethan went to bed, at the puppets insistence of coarse. Soon enough he was curled up in bed and drifted off into sleep.

—

_Ethan opened his eyes to find himself already in the past pizzeria. The shadow bear in front of him looking at his watch._

_"What a surprise! You're early for once" he snapped his pocket watch closed and looked up at the bear._

_"Yah had a rough day, puppet insisted I sleep in so here I am"_

_"Good, if there's time we can chat" the bear nodded while walking towards the message wall room. Ethan followed. "So uh... what was those orb things I saw last time?" He asked, the bear easily explained._

_"Remnant. Energy spawned by ghosts during high emotional situations." He explained smoothly. "Anything possessed has the capacity to spawn some, usually passively, but it can spawn in waves during someone's death...assuming its tragic enough"_

_"Neat" Ethan nodded before asking. "I'm not going to be tested on this will I?" This got a short laugh from the bear._

_"No, I don't believe so" soon they were at the wall, and there was just an image of a bunny painted on it. Ethan questioned what it meant before remembering the purple shadow bunny that helped him in the maze. "That shadow bunny?"_

_"Ah you've met them already? Good that makes things easier" the bear nodded before motioning for Ethan to follow him. The man did, and soon they passed foxy's cove. The fox hopped off before also following the conga line of death._

_"So... is this the last memory? There aren't any other robots for that purple guy to destroy" Ethan asked which cases the bear to chuckle and shake his head. "No, there is one more after this." He answered, but refused to say more. Ethan just watched while the purple mane appeared and struck foxy with the axe, taking him apart._

_"God this guy has issues." He mumbled, causing the bear to look at him._

_"And you don't?"_

_"Touché" Ethan gave the bear a finger gun before the edges of the world faded._

_"Our time together is coming to an end Night guard" the bear suddenly spoke. "Soon the time will come to use the knowledge you've been given of the past. I hope you will make a good decision" the bear warned before turning and leaving._

_And Ethan's world went black._


	7. Chapter 7: Remnant and Rabbits

**{ sorry this one took so long, writers block hit hard, also it was my birthday the other day, so consider this a late birthday present. Enjoy _}**

_The phantoms had spotted the rogue B.B. near the arcade, he was being huffy and was sitting on a box. They all surrounded him with varying levels of annoyed in their expressions. The smaller phantom glared at them.** "Oh What? You Gonna Yell At Me? Don't Care. This Place Is The Pits, Can't Wait Till You All Leave So I Can Find A Better Place To Haunt."** Freddy's (now Gabriel's) eyes narrowed. **"You never were one of us. Were you?"**_

_**"Ding Ding Ding! You Finally Got A Clue! Good For You! Now Piss Off I'm Pouting"** Susie stopped foxy who was clearly about to let loose a barrage of insults and slander. Instead she knelt down to the other phantoms level and asked. **"If you weren't one of us, and you only wanted to cause problems... then why did you agree to help Mari?" This caught the smaller phantom off guard, flushing a dark green he looked away. "Because I'm Board! D-Don't Look Into It Okay!? What I do is none of your business! Now Piss Off!"** This seemed to satisfy Susie as she stood up and made a motion for everyone to follow. Soon the other phantoms left the room, most of them confused of what Susie seemed so satisfied about. Standing just out of sight was a purple shadow. They giggled at the minor interaction before skipping off, they passed through walls and rooms before settling in the basement, Springtrap was still there, huddled up into himself thinking. They knelt down next to them and grinned._

_"I knew it, I knew it wasn't all gone" they soon noticed the presence of another next to them. The shadow bear had joined the room, holding his pocket watch._

_"He's been here all day? Impressive. He seemed pretty insistent on moving after being stuck for about 30 years." The shadow rabbit stands and smiles at the bear. "You're back!"_

_"I never left, I'm always present" they stated simply causing the rabbit to giggle. "You know what I mean. They turn back to the rotten rabbit, their ears dropping. "What's going to happen to him?"_

_"Shouldn't you know? You know him so well" the bear raised a brown. The bunny shifted on its feet._

_"I do.. but with how as he is now... hm.. it's not nice, don't like it. Nope!" They shook their head. The shadow bear chuckled. "I suppose it doesn't matter now." They took out their watch and clicked it open. "It looks like he will be arriving soon. Don't you have something you must do?" The bear reminded, causing the bunny to jump up._

_"I'd never forget something so important!" They nodded before jogging off. The bear watched them leave before looking down at the rabbit, who seemed to be shaking._

_"The past cannot be changed, but it can be observed, and learned from, to improve the future. Do well to learn from yours, perhaps it's not too late for you yet" the bear spoke before disappearing._

_Springtrap slowly glanced to where the bear once was. His expression blank, and grim_

—

Ethan has never been so sore in his life,

He woke up slowly with a groan. He heard the tv still playing quietly in the other room, and finally the memories from last night flooded back to him.

"Oh right, puppet. Breakfast. Ow" he pushed himself up and out of bed, Hissing as his back protested the movement. He eventually pulled himself out of bed, took some Aspirin, and tiredly walked over to his kitchen. Leaning against the counter, as if waiting for him, was the phantom puppet. She smiled as Ethan walked into view.

**"Good morning Ethan, did you sleep well?"**

The man looked over, and with a yawn, he gave a tired nod. "Yeah, I think so, aside from the axe murdery bit I slept like a log." This caused the puppet to smile.

**"Good! Now I checked your fridge the other night, it looks like you have enough for some eggs and bacon. You did promise to eat a full breakfast after all"** She hummed while sitting on the counter, making it very clear she intended to stay and make sure Ethan actually did eat. Ethan chuckled and tried not to act like this was mildly uncomfortable.

But he guessed there were worse things to be forced to do than self care... Ethan needed to work on that anyway.

He got out the eggs and a frying pan and started cooking, since Mari was so insistent on keeping an eye on him Ethan decided Now was as good a time as any to ask her some questions.

"So uh... that shadow bear guy who keeps showing up in my dreams... do you know him?" This question caused the phantom to pause briefly. She slowly nodded. **"Yes, I asked for his help In... explaining our situation."**

"Because you couldn't do it yourself?" Ethan asked while cracking an egg into the pan.

**"Be honest with me Ethan, would you believe me if I told you that a purple man used an axe to take down a large animatronic bear that could clearly overpower him?"**

"Maybe." Ethan smirked as he took the pan off of the stove.

**"Well, the point is not everyone is as accepting of the paranormal as you seem to be."**

"Yeah well I'm not exactly most people" Ethan shrugged while grabbing a fork, apparently deciding to eat the scrambled eggs straight out of the pan and forgo a plate entirely. The phantom looked at him and crossed her arms,

**"Ethan."**

"Whaf?" The man asked innocently with his mouth full. The puppet, seeming to realize this would be a losing battle, just sighs with a tired smile.

**"Don't let your bacon burn"**

"Aw shuf my bacon!" Ethan hurried to put the pan down and take the sizzling bacon out of the microwave.

—

Walking back into the building Ethan saw the phantom puppet hover ahead, and a sudden chill that must have been lingering around him left. Ethan shivered, but got over it by the time he was in the office. "Okay so what's the plan?" Ethan asked as he looked up, phantom puppet was hovering by the window and answered.

**"I'm going to go find the other phantoms and figure out what the situation here has been like. I'm not sure what Springtrap will do but... be careful alright?"**

"Got it. I'll try not to pass out" Ethan grins as the phantom puppet disappeared. He leaned back in his seat and checked the cameras, oddly enough he couldn't find anything. No phantoms, no Springtrap, nothing. "...weird. Maybe everyone's taking a vacation?" He joked. Looking up from the tablet and back to the desk, his attention was caught by an out of place shadow. At first he thought he was seeing things, but when it was still there even after he checked the side tablet he knew it couldn't just be that. "Okay, weird shadow thing on the desk, lovely."

Then it blinked at him.

Ethan jumped back out of his chair and just managed to hold back a surprised squeak. The shadow toy tilted its head, and Ethan could slightly start to make out its shape. It looked like a rabbit.

"..oh right! Looking for a shadow bunny tonight. Didn't expect you to be so small." He joked, he could have sworn the shadow giggled. With nothing else to go on Ethan reached a hand out and grabbed into the toys torso

And Ethan's world went black

—

Ethan woke up in a familiar blue box, but it seemed smaller than he remembered. He spotted a familiar balloon brat and Ethan shot up. "Hey! Hey you I got a question for you!" He pointed, but the boy didn't react, he didn't even move. "Uh, hello? Are you ignoring me?"

"They can't hear us here silly." Another voice giggled, Ethan whirled around and was face to face with the purple shadow bunny themselves.

"Oh hey! Long time no see." Ethan greeted, the bunny jumped over and gave him a quick hug, which Ethan was not expecting but it was quick enough he couldn't object.

"I'm so glad you're here! Come one let's go!" They said while grabbing Ethan's hand and pulling him along.

"Hold on! wait, where are we going?-" Ethan was cut off when suddenly the world buzzed and they were in the purple room Mangle was in. Ethan noticed that rude child from before, but like everyone else it didn't even acknowledge him.

"The kids outside, we've gotta find a way out of this room" the purple bunny happily explained. Ethan was a little shaken after the sudden jump, but managed to nod. "R-right, just. Maybe you could tell me before you do that next time? Please?" He squeaked out. Purple bunny nodded, sure thing! We've got a few more rooms to go." With a quick warning the two jumped into the next area, it was the Chica minigame, And Chica was currently frozen in time handing a cupcake to a child.

"Uh... hey can I ask you something?" Ethan asked while they were standing there.

"Hm? Yeah what is it?"

"Uh... last time we met you were asking about second chances?... Uh can I ask why?" Ethan thought it was a harmless question, but the shadows grip on his hand suddenly tightened and it looked away. Ethan was about to apologize and shrug it off but they spoke.

"I was... I guess I wanted to ask since... Well it was sort of for a friend?... no that's not entirely right..." they mumbled. Pausing for a long moment before stating. "I guess... maybe I thought I didn't deserve a second chance?"

"You?... did you do something bad?" Ethan might not have known this energetic rabbit for long, but he had a hard time believing it would do something bad. The rabbit gave a sad smile and turned away.

"Let's keep moving" they declared before jumping to the next room. It was the fredbear stage and the two were on a platform. Ethan didn't want to let this go for some reason so he pressed for information. "Look if you don't want to say what possibly illegal thing you did that's cool and all. But I'm really curious now because you're immediately going into like moral debates and this is, what, our second meeting? Do you drop these huge morality bombs on everyone you meet?" This somehow got a laugh out of the rabbit. And it grinned.

"No only you. Everyone else I know either speaks in parables or is an actual child."

Ethan gave a nervous laugh at the statement before the rabbit suddenly pulled him over and jumped off the ledge, the world buzzed and they were suddenly in a new room, the room glitching with purple and grey static, the walls were lined with black, and Ethan could spot another grey child behind the barrier. "We need to get you to the other side" the shadow bunny stated, and Ethan nodded.

"I think there was an invisible wall in the balloon stage." Ethan recalled, and with a nod the two glitched into the blue room. Ethan walked over to where he remembered the Wall was and stuck a hand through, only to loose his balance and tip over the edge, thankfully the shadow still held onto his hand and teleported the two into the next room, where they fell outside the box and onto the floor of the void. They buzzed through a few more rooms until they were once again in the purple room, then the rabbit finally let go of Ethan's hand.

"This is where I have to go"

"Huh? Why's that?" Ethan asked. The rabbit smiled and shook its head, before wrapping its arms around Ethan in a hug. It would have probably felt nice if the shadow wasn't cold to the touch. Ethan tried not to shiver as it pulled away.

"Hope we'll meet again soon Ethan." The shadow said before walking away. Ethan gave a slow, confused wave before turning his attention back to the child. He had a job to do. As he approached he saw more details of the child, they had a short bowl cut hairstyle with a plain shirt over long sleeves, their pants covered well used tennis shoes. He looked up when Ethan got close. The man smiled. "Heya kiddo, wanna see a magic trick?" Ethan did a flourish before sticking his hand to the side, just as before the cake appeared and Ethan stumbled trying not to drop it. "Tadaa! Magic cake! This ones just for you buddy." The kid didn't say anything but made grabby hands for the cake. Ethan gladly handed it over and saw that look of recognition fill the boys eyes.

"Oh! You're mister Ethan right?"

"Yup, that's me, local disaster and cake delivering bunny man" he said with a grin.

"The others told me about you. I'm glad I got to meet you in person." The boy said quietly.

"Wait you're not a phantom?" Ethan asked and the boy shook his head. "Well uh, can I get your name then?" The boy smiles.

"It's Jeremy sir, thank you for helping everyone"

And Ethan's world went black

—

Ethan woke up back in his office. He took out his phone and checked the time

2AM

"Okay that didn't take as long as I thought" he mumbled while standing up. He checked the cameras and was surprised to see that Springtrap hadn't moved at all from when he last checked.

"Huh? Is he pouting or something?" He mumbled to himself. But he looked up when he heard a familiar voice.

**"Mister Ethan!"** Phantom Chica appeared in the doorway and ran over to the man, she smiled happily, "it's so good to see you!"

"Oh hey Chica- no wait it's Susie right?"

**"Either works."** The ghost giggles she sat on the desk and kicked her feet. "I remembered something, I thought you'd like to hear about it," she announced and Ethan shrugged.

"Sure why not, I'm all ears Suz" Ethan nodded with a tired smile, sitting back down in his chair the phantom stared recalling.

**"When I was little I got a doggie, it was a golden retriever puppy! I called him Cookie since he looked like a sugar cookie."** she paused to giggle.** "I really loved that dog, but sometimes it was really bad. Like how he's chew on the furniture and make messes. One time he tore up my favorite toy bunny. I got really upset, but I knew he was still a good boy at heart. He just did bad things if nobody taught him otherwise"** she explained, Ethan chucked. "Yah pets are like that. I used to house sit for a couple that had a pair of Pomeranians, they were wild but I loved watching them." He chuckled at the childhood memory. The phantom across from him went silent, then spoke quietly.

**"I think B.B is like my dog, he's doing bad things because nobody taught him otherwise."** Ethan was a little surprised by the statement.

"What makes you say that Chica-de?" Ethan inquired. Phantom Chica looked up.

**"I know he did a bad thing, but I also know he's helping out in something important... if he was all bad he wouldn't do that. So I think... I think he's like my puppy, he just needs some training to get on the right track."** She nods, sure of herself. Ethan ponders for a moment, then shrugs.

"If you say so. Personally I think he's more like a cat, or a ferret maybe, definitely a gremlin." Chica laughed.** "A really angry ferret that bites your ankles"** she sets into a giggle fit. Ethan quietly laughed then paused to think. Wasn't B.B. in one of those windows? Ethan checked the tablet to check if the coast was clear then stood up. Chica hummed. **"Where are you going Mister Ethan?"**

Ethan walked to the doorway and looked back with a smirk. "I'm Going to check on the angry ferret." And with that he jogged off towards the other room.

The B.B. drawing was still where it was before, innocently hanging on the wall. Ethan took a deep breath in and out. "Really hope these things aren't a one use only sort of deal" he mumbled to himself and reached out to touch the poster.

And Ethan's world went black

—

Ethan opened his eyes and found himself back in the blue room. The balloons were floating again, but he heard a strange sound above him, like someone squeezing rubber. He looked up and found B.B. sitting on the ledge, squeezing a big red balloon like he was trying to pop it. Ethan waved to get his attention. "Hey, you good up there?" BB paused and looked over at him, Ethan could swear he didn't look that green last time he saw the boy here, he also didn't remember him having a bob haircut.

"Oh! It's You, Mister Big Shot. What Do You Want? Came For The Kid?" B.B. asked while continuing in vain to pop the balloon.

"Wait there's a kid here too?" Ethan blinked in surprise.

"Uh Yeah Of Course There Is! He's Outside, Just Land On The Balloons." He explained, them quickly added. "So Get Going Then!"

"I will I will, buuuuut... I wanted to talk to you first" Ethan jumped up onto the platform the other sat on, and was briefly rewarded with B.B. looking up at him surprised.

"What? Me? Why? Aren't You Busy? Or Like, I Don't Know... Not Wanting To Associate With The Guy That Wanted You Dead?"

"To be fair, I'm not known for making good decisions, and I'm pretty sure you're not the only one that wanted me dead." Ethan chuckled as he sat across from B.B., the boy laughed.

"That's An Understatement! You're An Idiot!" He laughed harder, Ethan decided to just continue on.

"So uh... what are you anyway? Are you one of the kids or?..." this somehow got B.B. to laugh even harder, as he was now curled over onto the balloon that it was almost flat from the force.

"You Think I'm Some Flimsy Lost Soul? You Dumb Human I'm No Child!" He laughs. Ethan bites the inside of his cheek, unsure what to make of this.

"So uh, what are you then?" All at once B.B. stops laughing and looks up to Ethan, a sharp tooth grin spreading across his face.

"I Have Many Names, But The Closest Thing You Humans Would Compare Me To Is A Demon"

"Oh" Ethan blinks. "That's cool. Does that mean Hell's real?" This snapped B.B. out of his creepy grin and back into laughing.

"If It Does I Didn't Crawl Out From It!" He laughs as he once again tries to pop the red balloon.

"Hm, well I'm getting the impression if I ask any more questions I'll get a headache so I'll just-" Ethan stood up and stretched until he heard his back pop. "Guess I'll see you around Billy."

B.B. went silent, looking up at Ethan with confusion. "Billy? Did You Just Call Me Billy?"

"Yah, I mean it sounds better than B.B., and from what you just told me you're not someone possessing an animatronic... unless the robots are also haunted by demons in which case holy shit that sounds metal as hell." Ethan chuckled. "But I mean all the other kids have names, thought you'd deserve one too." The man smiles as he grabs another nearby balloon to prepare for his void decent. B.B. stands up and looks at him. "Yah, But All Their Names Are Probably Dumb. I'm Keeping This Name Though! Because I Like It." He looked to the side and grumbled. "So Thanks I Guess"

"No problem Billy, now if you'll excuse me I've got to hurl myself into the void" Ethan announced while jumping down to the platform that connected to the invisible wall. Billy grinned and called down to him. "Need Any Help With That?"

"No thanks, I think I can chuck myself into a bottomless pit perfectly fine." Ethan waved before holding the balloons tightly and jumping off the edge, he briefly saw Billy wave before he descended down into the void.

He soon landed on giant red balloons that made a pathway towards an area he hadn't seen before. Ethan, assuming this would lead to the aforementioned kid, jumped from balloon to balloon until he reached a blue platform with a grey kid curled up in the center, he had spiked hair and a stripped t shirt and shorts, his legs were covered in bandages and he had dirty sneakers. When the kid looked up as Ethan landed on the platform he could see another bandaid on the kids nose. Ethan waved with a free hand and did what he usually did in this situation. "Heya kiddo, I don't really want to let go of my balloons so you're about to see me attempt to hold a huge cake with one hand, I can promise this will be funny." Ethan grinned and stuck out said free hand for the cake, it appeared and Ethan scrambled to keep it balanced. The boy ended up snickering at the antics and Ethan eventually got balanced enough to walk the cake over to him and hand it over. Recognition filled the boys vision and he gasped. "Ethan! I'm really sorry I upset you before!" He suddenly stated while looking a little worried.

"Oh! Well you're foxy then huh? Don't worry it's fine, I'm over it."

"Funny thing is I think there was another reason the name Fritz looked familiar." The boy grinned, revealing he had a gap from a missing tooth. "That's my name too!"

"Wow really? Small world." Ethan blinked before Fritz got up and tackled Ethan into a hug, the man lost balance and fell back with the little kid still on top of him. Ethan laughed and patted the child's back.

And Ethan's world went black.

—

Ethan woke up back in the office, he was about to check the time but noticed a shadow outside the window, he looked up and saw Springtrap looming outside. He immediately jumped to attention and sat up straight. "Ah! Springtrap! Hey! Wow! Did not expect to see you here!" He let out a nervous laugh as the rabbit looked at him. But Ethan noticed something different in his expression, instead of eyes filled with malice and hate, Springtrap held a melancholy expression. "So uh, you gonna try and get in today or..." Ethan mumbled, but the rabbit looked to the side and remained still. Ethan decided this was the perfect time for small talk.

"So uh... remember when you tossed me across the room? Got some nasty bruises from it, but hey I'm good now. Stuck the landing." Ethan could have sworn he saw the rabbit wince. Smart. Remind the rabbit about the time he almost killed you after he's clearly had some sort of crisis of morality. Genius move Ethan. He then got the worst idea in the history of ideas. "Heh, I guess you could say... with all this ghost and haunting stuff going on that I experienced some _phantom pain_!" He snapped and shot the rabbit a pair of finger guns with the dumbest grin imaginable.

Springtrap just looked at him and slowly blinked. "Yeah you're right that was _ghastly_ should have tried something less _tendonous_ and more_ relata-boo-l_." Ethan held back a snicker as the rotten rabbit looked more and more dead inside. "Okay sorry sorry tried to lighten the mood." Ethan chuckled. He they decided to toss in one more joke. "Guess puns don't hit like they used to, or maybe my comedy's getting old. But hey! That means we got something in common!" Ethan gave a goofy grin and made a dumb pose by stretching his arms out. The rabbit looked at him, and Ethan could just barely hear the smallest of chuckles come from it. It was probably a pity laugh but Ethan was beaming. "Hell yah, self depriving humor always does the trick." He laughed. Springtrap finally turned to leave, and Ethan gave a wave. "Well I'll see you tomorrow Springtrap" the rabbit didn't reply as he disappeared from view. Ethan looked down and checked the time.

5AM

Ethan decided to ride the rest of the night out by kicking his feet up onto the desk and leaning back in his chair. For the first time in a while he felt completely at ease.

—

6 am rolled around and after saying goodbye to the phantoms Ethan drove himself home. The sky was cloudy when he arrived home. Ethan wonders if it was going to rain. He gets himself into some comfortable clothes and grabs a snack, it's a cereal bar but hey better than nothing. "Maybe Phantom Puppet would be proud, I'm actually eating something" He chuckled. Soon enough he went to toss himself into bed. The exhaustion from a long day set in and he was out moment after crawling under the sheets.

—

_Ethan opened his eyes once again in the pizzeria, but he didn't see any animatronics. The shadow bear approached him with a calm smile. "We don't have to check the wall tonight, there's nothing there." He explained, and Ethan nodded._

_"Okay, So who's getting axed tonight?" Ethan lightly joked, which got a laugh out of the shadow. "You misunderstand, nobody is getting the axe this time." He made a gesture for Ethan to follow. Soon Ethan spotted what looked like a little girl, she had long black hair and a pretty outfit. Ethan knew she must have been another ghost since she was greyed out._

_"Wait... who's that?"_

_"Oh? You don't remember your friend Mari?" The shadow bear hummed and Ethan did a double take. "That's phantom puppet? But, she's so short?" The shadow shook his head with a smile as the two followed the ghost towards the safe room, and then entered. "Wait.. we get to go in the forbidden room?" Ethan asked and the bear nodded. "Oh sweet" he stated as he walked inside. The room was small and had a few old arcades against the wall, water was dripping from the ceiling and there was an old golden rabbit suit hunched in the corner. The purple man was kneeled next to it, almost in contemplation._

_Ethan suddenly god a bad feeling in his gut._

_On the other side of the room he saw the other children's ghosts appear, Gabriel, Jeremy, Susie, Fritz, and another girl with twin buns Ethan didn't recognize. Mari was leading the group as the purple man turned and jumped, he must have said something, but Ethan only got muffled echoes of anything spoken. Ethan scooted closer to the shadow bear and mumbled. "Is everything supposed to sound like it's muffled under layers of blankets?"_

_"Words spoken that have no significance tend to be harder to recall in memories" the bear explained, Ethan paused then asked._

_"How are you able to show me things like this anyhow?" The bear smiles and shook his head._

_"Nows not the time for that." Ethan was about to press for more when suddenly the scene escalated, the ghosts where chasing the purple man across the room, even with muffled sound he could tell the man was screaming. This scene continued for a bit until the purple man looked over to the suit, suddenly grinning he ran over and quickly put the suit on. Ethan suddenly felt very sick to his stomach._

_The man, now in the bunny suit, laughed. It was much clearer than he other words._

_The click that rang through the room was also clear as day._

_The man stopped laughing, and moments later there was a chorus of metal springs being released and a piercing cry of agony. Ethan quickly looked away just as blood stared to pool. He only dared to look back when the screams died down to painful moans. There was a large pool of blood under the twitching suit, and he saw the ghosts fade away. Ethan winched, then mumbled. "I knew it." That purple man was Springtrap. He thought this was the end, but moments later purple glowing orbs started to float out of the dead man's suit, they gathered next to it, and a foggy cloud of purple mist solidified into a very familiar shape._

_"Wait that's- that's the Purple bunny." Ethan exclaimed, looking between the shadow bear and the bunny hoping for some kind of explanation. Thankfully the shadow bear gave him one._

_"If enough remnant gathers it can form an echo, or a shadow of whomever spawned the remnant." Ethan nodded, and looked over at the two rabbits. The purple bunny was blinking in confusion, the man in the rabbit suit was still._

_"It seems this is the end of our time together Ethan, but your job isn't yet done. Give them their happiest day." The shadow bear said while patting the man's back." Ethan jumped and looked back._

_"Wait! What are you exactly?" He declared suddenly. The shadow gave him an odd smile and took out his pocket watch._

_"You could say I'm always present. Until next time Ethan."_

_And Ethan's world went black._


	8. Chapter 8: Balloons and Birthday Cake

**{Thank you for your continued patience everyone! the end is coming up soon**

**End of Note}**

_Everyone's here,_

_There's only one left._

_Give them their happiest day._

—

Ethan woke up even more confused than when he fell asleep. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes.

"Good god, this thing is like some dark soap opera" he mumbled before crawling out of bed. Considering what he now knew about Springtrap... he decided to try and talk to him while at the fright.

After helping the kids out of course.

"What did that shadow time bear guy even mean by happiest day?" Ethan mumbles while he tugged on his sweatshirt. He walked over to the kitchen, and started taking out the items needed for some cereal. "I didn't get any hints other than that... is it another poster window? I mean that would make sense... unless it's like the cupcakes again." Ethan scooped the cereal flakes into his mouth as he thought. Getting lost in his pondering. He then just shrugged and decided to just roll with it, it worked before after all. Soon enough he completely got dressed and made his way towards Fazbears Fright.

—

Ethan walked into the fright and looked around. It was oddly quiet. He walked into the office and checked the monitors, he found Springtrap in a camera looking at a picture. From what Ethan could tell it was another crayon drawing of the puppet. He blinked at the screen. "What's this all about?"

"**Hey Fart Face!**"

Ethan turned and spotted phantom B.B. at the doorway. Behind him was the purple shadow bunny himself. He waved.

"**You Gonna Do The Thing Or What?**"

"Oh right! Well I don't know how to get there."

"**Purple Fluff Back Here Will Show Ya. Get Moving Old Timer!**" Ethan chuckled.

"Whatever you say Billy." And he stood up. The purple rabbit skipped ahead, but Ethan paused when he was next to the demon phantom. "So... what's your plan after this? You going to stick around?"

"**Eh, Doubt It. This Place Is Boring. Maybe I'll Try That Wandering Spirit Gig For A Bit Who Knows.**" The phantom shrugged. "**Or I Can Room With You. Doubt You'd Notice Anyway.**" He laughed. Ethan gave a nervous chuckle and decided not to comment. "Well good luck with whatever you do. Try not to get anyone killed this time."

"**No Promises**"

And with that Ethan started following after the purple rabbit. He was led through the halls and into the room with the puppet drawing, there were present boxes thrown around that framed the room nicely. Springtrap had long since left, Ethan briefly wondered where he went but was distracted when The purple bunny nodded towards the image. Ethan understood. He reached a hand out and touched the drawing.

And Ethan's world went black.

—

Ethan opened his eyes to find he was in a grey room, there were balloons and party favors decorating it, with tables of kids liking the walls, the kids had on various animal masks, Guess Ethan wouldn't stand out much with his bunny outfit.

"You made it." A familiar voice called, Ethan looked beside him and saw the long haired girl from the dream,

"Mari! ... Okay wow I'm not used to you being shorter than me" the girl laughed.

"Sorry if that startled you. Come on, we've got one more child to save." She loop her arm around Ethan's and lightly started to lead in foreword.

"So uh, I never got your name. Like your real one." Ethan commented, she smiled and looked up.

"My name is Marigold. Thank you for all of this Ethan" she had a relieved expression, like someone finally getting closure after many years. Ethan smiled back. "Glad I could help."

"Mister night guard!" Another little girl called out, she had on a white and pink fox mask, which matched her playful attire, of a short sleeved shirt, skirt, and leggings with twin ponytails and sneakers. She ran up to the man and latched onto his leg.

"Mangle?" Ethan laughed and knelt down so she could hug him properly.

"Maggie! It's Maggie! I want you to meet my friends! They're here too!" She pointed over towards the party table she was sitting at, three other little kids were seated there, a boy with short hair and big glasses, wearing a plaid shirt and shorts sat there with a blue bunny mask in front of him. Another boy with curly hair and a camo pattern shirt looked up from his bear masked and waved. Finally a little girl with blonde hair tied up on a ponytail on her head wearing a puffy dress giggled and waved while wearing a bird mask. Maggie giggled and let go of Ethan. "They're here for the party!"

"A party?" Ethan questioned, looking at Marigold for some sort of explanation. The girl nodded and stated.

"It's her happiest day."

Ethan looked forward and saw the ghost kids from before, they all sat around a large table, with the twin bun girl seated at the end, she was curled up and looked sad, they all were monochrome colored, but the last girl looked especially dull. Ethan paused, turning to marigold he quietly asked. "So how come I never had to bring any of these kids cake? Or you for that matter?" He nodded towards Maggie and her friends. Marigold paused, then answered.

"I, along with them, were satisfied with just seeing out killer dead. We could move on with that alone, but the others... they weren't satisfied. They needed an extra helping hand to allow them to fully move on."

"Okay, but why are you here then if you already could move on to... whatever the next life is?" Ethan questioned. Maggie is the one who answered this time.

"Nobody gets left behind!" She cheerfully answered. Marigold nodded in agreement, Ethan started to understand. So he smiled.

"Nobody gets left behind." He quietly mumbled.

Ethan nodded to himself and stood up, Holding his hands out for the cake to once again appear, he was slightly surprised to see it was bigger than before, and the candles were all lit. He only paused a moment before Marigold held onto his arm and he smiled down at her. "Let's get this party started." Maggie had run back to her table as he walked forward, as he got closer to the table he found himself humming a birthday tune, he didn't know her name but he still continued. Soon enough he reached the tables, he felt all eyes on him as he placed the cake in the center. "Happy birthday kiddo, hope the wait was worth it." He grinned. The girl looked up, she reached a hand out towards the cake and grabbed its edge, recognition filled her eyes and she blinked up towards Ethan.

"...thank you" she mumbled quietly. She looked at the other kids at the table, Fritz nodded and the others looked at her expectantly.

"My name is Cassidy."

"Well Cassidy it's very nice to meet you. I'm Ethan." He smiled. Suddenly all the other kids started singing happy birthday, they all put on masks of the various animatronics they used to be, and Ethan soon saw Marigold had even put on a puppet mask. Ethan found himself joining the song.

_Happy birthday to you,_

_Happy birthday to you,_

_Happy birthday dear Cassidy,_

_Happy birthday to you!_

And the candles were blown out. All the kids at the table suddenly stood up, colorful balloons appearing in their hands. And one by one they dropped their masks and started floating away. They all eagerly waved goodbye as they faded, Marigold lingered momentarily. She smiled and nodded, saying "you know what to do next" and soon joined the others.

Leaving Ethan alone in the now silent room.

But he wasn't alone for long. Soon enough he felt a presence behind him. He turned and saw the purple rabbit standing near the wall, he waved, and waited like he expected Ethan to follow him. Ethan turned back towards the table and saw a plate and a cake knife where they weren't before.

He knew what he had to do.

He picked up the knife and cut out a slice of the cake, he then carefully placed the piece onto the plate and picked it up, turning on his heels, he walked towards the purple bunny. Once he was close enough the bunny smiled, turned, and skipped through the wall. Ethan, who was now used to this invisible wall stuff, followed through. But instead of falling through a void he was greeted with a somewhat familiar room. It was the glitched purple room from before, with its static walls and black borders stretching far above his head. Ethan looked forward and saw a figure curled up against the wall. Purple Bunny was kneeled down next to him, smiling, and talking to him like an old friend.

The purple man didn't look up though. Not until Ethan had approached. This man's eyes looked tired, and sad, and Ethan knew full well what he did.

But he smiled. "Hey, what's up?" The purple man blinked, and tried to look away, but Ethan held out the cake slice, offering it to him. The purple man looked back, looking between the cake and Ethan with a baffled expression.

"I can't speak for the others.. but I think you have a chance. But it's your call if you want to take it, man." The purple figure looked over towards the purple rabbit, who nodded eagerly with a grin. Slowly, hesitantly, he reached a hand out and took the offered cake. He held it in front of him, as if contemplating the baked goods in front of him. Then he slowly looked back up to Ethan. He opened his mouth and spoke.

"**Thank you...**"

Ethan smiled.

And Ethan's world went black.

—

Ethan woke up back in his office. The building was oddly quiet and warm. He checked his phone

3AM

He still had time. So Ethan got up out of his seat and walked out of the doorway. He silently strolled through the attraction, looking at all the decorations since he had time now.

"...yah this place isn't that scary." He chuckled. "But it's got heart, so points for that?" He hummed as he continued looking around, he had gotten to the very end when he finally found who he was looking for.

Springtrap was sitting on the ground, looking up at a poster hung on the wall, it had a chibi rabbit smiling, but with the worn out quality of the poster it looked a little unnerving.

"Hey Spring," Ethan waved, getting the robots attention. "Mind if a join you?" The rabbit was quiet for a while, then sighed,

"**Do what you will**" So Ethan sat next to him. They had a comfortable distance though, mostly because Ethan was starting to notice the smell of death coming off of him. (How'd he not notice until now?) they both sat in silence.

Ethan eventually broke the silence.

"I don't think I ever properly introduced myself did I?" He whistled. "Kinda rude on my end, better fix that" he leaned over and extended a hand, like he was casually greeting someone new. "Names Ethan, Ethan Smith. Local disaster and twin of Fritz Smith." He grinned. "Pleasure to meet ya" Springtrap looked quizzativly at the open hand, he hesitated. Then slowly took it with his own rotten paw.

"**...William Afton, also known as Springtrap... dead murderer.**" He stayed quiet, Ethan tried not to wince at the feeling of something wet and sticky on the animatronics paws. After a quick shake he pulled back. "Gotta admit, did not expect your name to be William. Not that it's bad of coarse"

"**...you aren't familiar with that name?**" The rabbit asked, a little baffled. "**I believe your brother used to work under me... did he not talk about me?**"

"To be honest, he only worked there like an Day and then just sorta ran off without a word."

"**Oh**" both fell silent, Ethan was apparently on a roll with trying to get some answers and boldly asked. "So uh... why'd you try and kill me anyway?" He asked, when he noticed Springtrap look away he added. "Be honest, I can take it if you just hated my face or something." He tried to lighten the mood with a joke. When Springtrap was still silent Ethan decided to just be patient, after a long moment the animatronic opened his mouth.

"**I was... trapped in a room for a long time, I don't recall how long. I was angry, frustrated, god I just wanted to break something but I couldn't move. When I finally could I just wanted to kill the first unlucky fool I could find.**"

"And I was that fool?" Ethan asked, Springtrap slowly nodded. Ethan leaned back against the wall. "Yah that seems about right" both slipped into silence again, just looking at the wall ahead of them. Springtrap was studying every crack and loose cable hanging from the grossly colored wall. His mind slipping into unpleasant thoughts, he felt sick. Ethan's voice cut him out of his spiral though.

"You have any regrets Will?" The man asked, still looking up at the wall. Springtrap glanced over at him then looked down at his hands, they were a rotten green, and some of the foe fur had rot away from decades of neglect.

"**...several**" he replied darkly.

"If given the chance... would you try to atone for what you've done?" The animatronic didn't reply. But he looked to be thinking. "...I've got some stuff I need to work on myself. Best day to start is today, right?" He chuckled, then looked at his phone to check the time.

5AM

"Aw, I gotta head out soon." He pushed himself up and off the wall. "I'll see you... tomorrow then? Man the attraction opens in a few days, how time flys huh?"

"**...opening?**"

"This is a horror attraction? Kinda forgot that myself for a bit" Ethan laughs. "Guess that's what happens when you get swept up in ghost and murder antics"

"**Right... it's a horror attraction**"

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. You definitely look scary enough, don't even have to try hard to get people screaming. You'll be fine"

"**I wasn't worried about that**" Springtrap deadpanned Ethan snickered.

"Sure sure whatever you say." He smiled, paused, then added. "Maybe I should bring some cards."

"...what?"

"Some cards. We could play poker or go fish or.. Well any other games. We've got a whole night ahead and I'm pretty sure we'd get bored with nothing to do but talk and maybe look around. Might as well make a day of it" The man grinned. Springtrap seemed a little lost in thought, but nodded.

"**Do what you will...**"

"Well if you're going to be like that maybe I'll bring some cake too. After everything that's happened this week I could honestly go for a slice" Ethan chuckled, and was surprised to hear Springtrap give a short laugh of his own.

"**You... are something else aren't you?**"

"Like I said, I'm the local disaster man." Ethan grinned. He then turned to walk towards the office, he was surprised to hear heavy footsteps follow him, glancing back he saw Springtrap had gotten up and was following behind him. Ethan shrugged and allowed the rabbit to follow him back to the office. As Ethan picked up his things he noticed Springtrap tapping away at the screen. Ethan was a little amused when he set off the sound cue and he immediately looked up and towards the direction of the laughter.

"**Oh, oh for the love of.**" Ethan stuffed a laugh as Springtrap glared at the tablet then him. "**I knew you were behind this**" Ethan laughed as Springtrap huffed and tossed the tablet down at the table. Ethan twirled his car keys on his finger. "So see you same time Tomorrow then?" Ethan grinned while walking towards the door. He paused when Springtrap stayed quiet.

"Spring?" The rabbit looked up, and quietly nodded.

"**Goodbye Ethan**." The rabbit quietly said. Ethan waved and walked out the door, he was leaving a little early but it was almost 6am and he was sure he could get away with it once. But it wasn't until he was in his car and driving away that an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach.

Why did this feel so much like an ending? He helped save the kids, he's at least got the murderer on peaceful terms, and then there's Billy who said he was going to head out... he didn't see that demon after the happiest day. And then there was the way Springtrap spoke. He sounded so sure that this was the end. But Ethan was coming back tomorrow so why send him off like that?

"Maybe it's just nerves finally catching up to me" Ethan shook his head. Deciding against worrying himself he instead looked forward to tomorrow, he'd have to dig through some cabinets but he was sure he had a deck of cards somewhere. So he drove off and left the Fazbears fright to fade into the distance.

—

Ethan got home and thankfully didn't take too long to find his card deck, it was well worn with use but had a thin layer of dust on the top. "We meet again old friend" he chuckled as he dusted it off with his hoodie sleeve. He placed the deck on the counter. "I'll go to the store before I head to work, maybe I'll go to that one grocery store that sells cake slices for like a dollar" Ethan muses to himself. He paused though, his mind drifting back to the kids. "Hope they're alright now. Wherever they are." He sighs, then walks over to the pantry. "Wonder if I still got that hot chocolate mix?"

Soon enough Ethan is sitting down on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate, flipping through the Channels until he lands on a c tier horror movie, he sips his hot drink as the slasher saws into a low quality prop of a screaming teenager. "I wonder if I can sneak in some movies to show spring?" He wonders. He didn't see a tv in the fright, but maybe he could play movies on the tablet? Eh, he'd figure something out. Eventually he finished his drink and decided to call it a night early. He had to go out for groceries before work and figured he'd might as well head to bed now. Changing into his sleepwear Ethan crawled into bed and turned off the lights. He laid on his back, the bruises from earlier fading so they didn't hurt as bad as before, and it wasn't long until he drifted off into sleep.

—

_The walls were covered in a blue plaid pattern. There was a doorway on the other side of the room, _

_He knew someone he was looking for was on the other side._

_So he ran._

_It felt like his shoes were filled with cement,_

_The hallway stretching out longer and further._

_But he refused to give up. _

_He refused to stand idly by this time._

_He reached out a hand and called his name._

_But his footing faltered and he fell into a hole he didn't previously see,_

_He fell down and down until the blue walls turned purple and..._

"_Hello again!" Ethan looked up and saw the purple bunny across from him._

"_Sorry for interrupting, I just uh... hm. Well I guess I wanted to say goodbye."_

"_Goodbye?" Ethan echoes._

"_Yah goodbye, I know how Will gets, wanting to go down in a blaze of glory."_

"_Blaze of glory? What are you talking about?" Ethan tried to approach, but was pushed away by a gust of blistering heat._

"_I wanted to say goodbye since... well I'm not sure if I'll see you again." The rabbit hummed and approached. "Figured I'd be nice and take a hit for Willy here." Ethan was silent and stood confused as the rabbit was now standing in front of him. The purple shadow took the man's hand in his own, he felt warm to the touch. "Take good care of him okay? I think he could use someone like you as a friend, even if he denies it at first." The rabbit hummed. Ethan nodded, thought was still confused. Was the purple rabbit leaving? What was going on. Instead of asking questions, Ethan silently smiled. He was filled with a sense of calm, that the rabbit would be okay._

"_Catch you on the flip side" Ethan said, as the rabbit let go and walked away into the heat._

_Ethan was pulled away into a cool blue sky, looking up he felt like he was floating in a lake of stars._

_It was a pretty dream._


	9. Chapter 9: Aftermath

**{Ah here we are at the finale... well for now anyways, thanks for sticking around. be sure to stay tuned, the story doesn't end here ;)**

**end of note}**

_He hadn't expected the place to go up so quickly._

_But maybe that was for the best, didn't have to linger longer than he had to._

_The flames reached up and licked at his sides, _

_He didn't feel the heat as much as he thought._

_Guess that's one bonus of having a robotic body._

_He looked up at the ceiling, it'd soon collapse and cover his body with rubble._

_But for a brief moment he thought he saw several souls float up and away._

_One soul, that looked to be a woman with longer hair, looked back down at him. Then slowly waved before floating away on balloons._

_Springtrap found himself slowly waving back._

_They deserved their freedom._

_Just as he deserved to burn._

_He sat against a wall, briefly contemplating where his soul would end up._

_He decided it didn't matter in the end._

_He'd end up in whatever punishment he rightly deserved._

_So he closed his eyes and let the flames consume him._

—

Ethan woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. Weird, he thought, that wasn't his alarm. He pushed himself onto his side and answered, with a yawn he spoke.

"Sup?"

"Fritz! Oh my god you've gotta get over here!" Justin was on the other line, Ethan almost forgot about him. Where had he been all week?

"Huh? Slow down, what's going on?" Ethan pushed himself up more, Justin was noticeably distressed but Ethan didn't know what would be upsetting him so much.

"It's the worst! I don't know what happened if it was an accident or or someone sabotaged the place and I haven't got a clew and neither do the investigators-"

"What's going on Justin?" Ethan demanded, slightly more serious. What Justin said nearly made him drop his phone.

"It's Fazbear's fright! It's up in flames!"

—-

Ethan has never gotten himself out of bed and dressed so quickly in his life, he only just managed to grab a cereal bar before jumping into his car and speeding his way towards Fazbear's fright, he could see the smoke rising as he turned the corner and pulled into a parking spot. Firefighters were putting out the last of the flames, but even still Ethan could see the wreckage of the building. How big had this fire been? His mind immediately jumped to Springtrap, was he okay? Did he know this would happen?

He looked so certain when he left last night... did he?...

And it clicked

he never did get an answer for if Springtrap wanted to atone... maybe this was his way of doing it.

"Oh my god..." Ethan whispered, he let it out forced, nervous chuckle. "The absolute madman, he actually did it!"

"Mister Smith!" Ethan turned and spotted Justin waving him down, jogging towards him. Ethan waved back.

"Do you know what happened?" Ethan asked, the younger man next to him shook his head.

"I'm not sure, I've heard investigators say it was an electrical fire or, or something I don't... maybe I shouldn't have gone so old school with this thing..." the man looked dejected. Ethan patted his back.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted" Ethan tried to sound calm.

"I-I'll be sure to send you your pay, though I doubt this place will be reopening... awww man and I found such good props too." Justin ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "And I even just had the t shirts delivered! I- I don't think I can get a refund on those''

"Wait t shirts?" Ethan looked over, Justin nodded.

"Y-yah I thought it'd be neat. Selling those 'I survived' yadda yadda style shirts would be awesome! I drew up a design and everything it was so cool! And now I can't even sell them here!... maybe I can pawn them off online?" He mumbles trying to think of a plan. Ethan pauses, then decides why nod?

"You got a few of those I can take home?" Ethan asked. Justin gave a small smile as he nodded.

"Sure, there's in my trunk, pick out as many as you'd like I Uh... I got a lot" Justin motioned as he jogged over to his car, he popped open the truck and opened a cardboard box. Ethan sifted threw a few and pulled out one in his size.

"What do you think? I drew up the design myself" Justin asked, smiling nervously.

The shirt had a circular logo for the attraction, in the center was a stylized depiction of Springtrap himself, though he looked more cartoony than usual, he had a snarl to make him look semi intimidating. Surrounding the logo were the words 'I survived Fazbear's fright! And all I got was this crummy t-shirt'

Ethan grinned. "Dude, I love it! I'll take ten" Justin let out a genuine smile and nodded.

So Ethan walked away from the truck with a handful of t shirts, and tossed them into his passenger side door. He took one more look over towards the remains of the attraction, the fire was out by now.

There was hardly anything left.

Ethan sighed. "Goodbye guys, see ya on the flip side" he gave a small wave before climbing into his car.

Before he shut the door he felt a cold chill crawl up his spine. Ethan shrugged it off as the wind, though his mind wanted to argue otherwise.

In the end he decided not to worry and started his near silent drive home.

—

Ethan was back home and laying on his bed, he had a few of those novelty t shirts tossed haphazardly into his closet, 'for my collection' he thought. He idly looked over towards his phone. From what he gathered nothing would have survived that fire.

Springtrap was gone.

...something in his gut told him that wasn't entirely correct. But even if the rotten robot was still alive Ethan had no idea where he would be.

He lost someone yet again.

Ethan grabbed a pillow and shoved it into his face, feeling the uncomfortable pressure of his glasses pressed against his nose. He didn't want to but his mind started to spiral into negatives. He was alone, he wasn't getting them back, he'd be stuck in this too big house alone for the rest of his pathetic life.

...

But was he really?

He tossed his pillow away and picked up his phone. There was still someone out there he could reach out to.

And it was about time he stopped hiding.

So he sat up from his bed, slipped on his shoes, and started walking.

The spot was a distance away, but he needed the exercise so Ethan didn't mind. Soon enough he was down a hiking path and crossing a dirt road, the gravel crunches against his shoes as he approached a stone bridge, it was old and had vines growing around the columns, but it still held one of the nicest views Ethan had access to. A small creek flowing down a forest path into the horizon.

He remembers when he and his twin would sneak out here to play, they'd be pirates or superheroes, sometimes secret agents traveling into dangerous territory to save the damsel in distress.

Ethan pulled out his phone,

He was vaguely aware of how his hands shook holding the device. Stifling his fear he dialed an old familiar number, he held the phone to his ear as it rang.

And it rang.

And rang.

And rang...

"Hi you've reached the phone of Fritz Smith. I can't come to the phone right now but if you leave a name and number I'll get back to you. Thanks! Have a great day."

Voice mail. Of course it was a voicemail, he was probably asleep. Time Zones. Ethan debated just hanging up then and there, but he forced himself to stay on the line until he heard the tone.

"Hey Fritz! It's me Ethan, yah I know it's uh, it's been a while but hey I'm not dead yet. Haha. Uh... sorry I've taken so long to reach out I Uh... I've had some stuff I've needed to work on... for myself really. Hope you are doing well! Love to talk with you again sometimes. Just call when you're free." Ethan hesitated, then added "love you bro. Bye" and he ended the call. Ethan sighed and leaned over the railing of the stone bridge. He pocketed his phone and looked out over the creak.

"It's a start" he nodded to himself. He stated in place for a long minute before finally deciding to turn back and walk home.

By the time he was back through the door his feet hurt. Ethan sighed and moved to the living room, he flopped back onto the couch and sighed. He really just wanted to pass out then and there.

But something felt off.

It felt colder than usual, not uncomfortably so but still cold. He sat up and looked around. The only other time it was that cold was when...

When Mari had followed him home.

He sat up a little straighter, it couldn't have been one of the kids, they had moved on, he'd seen them fly off. He doubted it was the purple bunny. He just had a great feeling that guy was gone along with William.

So that only left.

"Holy shit. Billy?" He called out, he didn't get an audible response, but the lights dimmed ever so slightly. Ethan laughed, then shook his head.

"You know when you said you'd find somewhere else to stay I didn't think you'd room with me." The man crosses his arms, he definitely felt some presence that was in the room with him, but for some reason couldn't see the green ghost anymore.

Maybe it was because mari had moved on? He wouldn't be surprised if she was the reason he could even see the phantoms in the first place. The man shrugged.

"Alright, you can stay, only rules are don't break my stuff and stay out of my bedroom and bathroom." He leaned back into the couch cushion, and he could swear he heard that gremlin laughing. But despite everything he didn't feel threatened.

Ethan just mentally prepared himself for some colder rooms and maybe flickering lights in his future.

After spending the evening watching bad horror movies and making one sided conversation with his demon roommate Ethan decided to call it a night. He pulled on something comfortable and crawled into bed, passing out soon after.

—

_He was surrounded by stars._

_He was seated in a bench in an open field. _

_The glowing orbs lighting the sky were of multiple colors._

_He felt like if he reached out he could grab one._

_So he held out an arm and reached._

_But his arm was caught by a blue grey claw. _

_He looked over and saw another man sitting with him, Ethan blinked, he had a bob haircut that was shorter in the back, but two strands of hair shot to the side against the rest of the due. Ethan almost though the outfit he was wearing looked Victorian. Then the man opened his mouth to speak._

"_Sub Bitch?"_

_Ethan nearly jumped from how different the tone was from his attire. The man blinked._

"_Oh? So now you're invading my dreams too?"_

"_Don't Get Used To It. You Can't See Me Anymore So We've Gotta Talk Somehow." Billy grinned and leaned back on the bench. "You Gotta Nice Place. Might Stick Around For A While" the demon grinned._

"_I mean, you can, I literally can't stop you... unless I called an exorcist... but like why my place? There's plenty of old warehouses and mansions that are ripe for demonic haunting." Ethan asked, he looked back over to the field, spotting a lake, it reflected the stars on its surface. Just at the edge there was a small fishing dock. He wondered if anyone used it._

"_Been There. Done That. Think I Might Try That Vacation Thing You Humans Always Brag About."_

"_Oh so my house is a vacation home now? Charming" Ethan rolled his eyes. Billy huffed._

"_Shut Up! I Don't Know Any Other Humans Who'd Tolerate Me." He looked to the side, briefly glancing at the lake, it almost looked a shade of red mixed with the deep blues and blacks of the night sky. "Besides, You're An Interesting Human. Nobody Else Has Ever Tried To Name Me Before" Billy fidgeted with his hands. Ethan moves before he really thought about it. He pat the other on the back._

"_Yah well I've never had a demon roommate before. Stay as long as you need to buddy. Just uh, don't try anything too crazy on me okay?" Ethan chuckled. "My life is already enough of a mess"_

_The other grinned back at him, then stood up. "I'll Remember That. Sweet Dreams Ethan Smith~" he laughed before floating off into the distance._

_Ethan looked back over towards the lake. He could swear he saw someone on the dock fishing._

_He shrugged and looked back up towards the stars._

_If he looked hard enough he could see the balloons the kids used to float away._

_He smiled, hoping they're happy wherever they've gone._

—

_Cassidy looked down from her spot above the clouds. The others had eagerly run off to greet other dead relatives or friends, some strangers with wings greeted them with open arms and joyful smiles._

_But Cassidy wasn't happy._

_She should be, she had her happiest day, her killer is dead, she's moved into the afterlife. _

_But she isn't satisfied._

_She looked down at the remains of the horror attraction. Her fist tightened against her leg._

_She wasn't satisfied._

_Her killer got off too easily._

_She was told what happened that week before. About Ethan and how he was insistent on helping everyone._

_How he almost got killed himself._

_How he tried to be kind to the monster that destroyed her life._

"_It doesn't make sense" she mumbled under her breath. _

"_What doesn't make sense?" Another voice asked, Cassidy looked up and spotted Marigold standing near her. The younger girl looked away and sighed._

"_It's not fair, why do we have to forgive him? He took everything from us" Cassidy whined, trying to not let her anger boil over in front of the older girl. Marigold hummed and shook her head._

"_Nobody said you had to forgive him" Cassidy looked back surprised._

"_What? But I thought that-"_

"_I haven't forgiven him, I'm not sure I'll be able to '' Marigold looked out across the plain they existed on, the fluffy pinks and soft oranges of a morning sunrise spread across the cotton clouds. "But I've decided to move on. To move forward. I don't believe he will be of danger anymore"_

"_How are you so sure of that?" Cassidy demanded. She shook her head. "How can you be so sure he won't hurt anyone again"_

"_Well... I just have this feeling." Marigold hummed. "He's got someone looking out for him. Maybe he can come to understand exactly what it was like for us all those years. Maybe he will improve?"_

"_Or maybe he will just spiral even further and kill again" Cassidy darkly grumbled. Marigold shook her head. "You weren't there, you didn't see how he reacted that night." She looked over to her younger companion. "I think that was him starting to realize what he's done." Cassidy stayed quiet. Marigold sighed and stood up. "Whatever his path in life... it's no longer our responsibility, we shouldn't stress about it anymore." Marigold smiles at her younger friend. "Come on, Susie Found her dog Cookie, she wants everyone to meet him" Cassidy looked up, then back down towards the earth. _

"_I'll be there in a minute" Marigold seemed satisfied with the answer and walked off._

_Cassidy looked back down. She crossed her arms._

"_I'm not satisfied yet. He hasn't suffered enough." She grumbled softly. Shaking her head she turned and followed after marigold. She decided there wasn't much she could do now._

_But she could wait. _

_And she could plan_

_Because one day she was sure,_

_He'd get what he deserved._

_Even if she had to do it herself._


	10. Epilogue

**{Thank you again for reading. The next story is in the works, but i gotta focus on school so it might take a bit to get out.}**

With a quick motion the pocket watch was closed shut. The bear hummed and nodded, placing the pocket watch in its place among the wall of other clocks, memories, the past.

He nodded at his work, but he looked over when he sensed another presence with him.

The purple rabbit had entered and stood next to him. They were a bit smaller and fizzier than before, but the bear recognized this was from them losing their physical form.

"You are quite an odd remnant, little one. There are not many instances of those like you losing your life to save your other selves."

The rabbit gave a tired hum. "I think he deserves a chance to be okay." They stumbled slightly, and the bear caught him.

"You've taken a nasty hit, you'd likely be nothing more than ash if I hadn't stepped in." The bear paused, then sighed. "Not sure why I did in the end"

"Because you liiiike meeee" the bunny playfully teased. This got a snort out of the shadow bear.

"Come now, we have work to do" the bear allowed the other to hold his arm as they walked out of the room. The bunny hummed. "What did you say your name was again? Silly me, I think I forgot"

The bear looked over, then back forward. "You may call me Ursa Major." The bunny giggled with a grin.

"If your Ursa Major can I be Ursa Minor?" The bear looked over at them with a raised brow. Then shrugged. "If that's what you wish to be called, then I shall call you Ursa Minor"

This got a grin from the rabbit. Who was bold enough to try and run ahead, they stumbled slightly and paused, suddenly being drawn to a row of clocks. They walked up to one, almost drawn to the name.

"Ah, is this familiar to you? Or perhaps to the memories you hold?" The bear asked the rabbit nodded, they reached out as if to grab a pocket watch, but hesitated. Looking back at the bear to silent ask permission. They got a nod in response.

"You'll have to learn to do this yourself, best to start now." Ursa Major stayed simply, with a subtle smile.

Ursa Minor grinned and carefully, delicately, removed a clock from the wall, it was under a name that tickled those memories he held onto, while he didn't wish to compare himself to his previous state of being, he was curious about this person. With a motion they clicked open the watch, and it spun backwards like a cassette tape before playing the memories held.

_..._

_The rain poured down against the windshield as he drove. The shorter man in the passenger side seat looked out the window, blissfully unaware of what was truly happening. _

_He pulled into a dirt road and slowed down._

"_What's this?" The shorter blonde asked._

"_Got to make a stop before we get there" the larger answers. He parked the car and opened his door, he made a motion for the other to stay put as he went into the trunk. The shorter man knew this must be something secretive, but his curiosity was eating away at him. He debated looking back, to view what forbidden act his partner was covering up. But he stayed put and looked at his hands. If he knew he could be in danger, he was already on thin ice with this man. And his cold piercing eyes... he didn't want those trained on him. He only looked up at the end, his curiosity won over. He saw the larger man burry something into the ground, it was dark, and the headlights were the only source of light available._

_But he could have sworn he saw something resembling a shallow grave._

_He looked to the side so quickly his neck popped when the larger man started to return. He sat himself down and backed the car out of the clearing._

_Both men were silent for a long time._

_The tension so thick you could slice a butter knife threw it._

_The younger decided he had to say something, to throw off suspicion? To lighten the mood? He wasn't sure, but he opened his mouth and quietly said._

"_Raining cats and dogs out there" the larger hummed in agreement._

"_Think Gene is doing okay down there?" He changed the subject, anything to move on from the previous scene._

"_If Eugene wishes to spend so much time with the animatronics then let him. His funeral" the larger man darkly chuckled. "They'll all be gone by the end of the week anyhow."_

_The shorter man chuckled nervously. "Yah... I guess so." His mind went back to the bunker that stored the animatronics._

_How it had stayed active so long he never knew._

_Those animatronics freaked him out._

_And he could never shake the feeling that something was being hidden there..._

_Something nasty..._

_And twisted..._

_He stared out into the car window, watching the street lights fly by._

"_We'll be there soon," the larger man spoke. "It's a bit far but this place has some of the best burgers in town" the man let out an uncharacteristically cheerful laugh, like the previous scene hadn't even happened. The smaller man shoved down his questions and simply smiled._

"_I'll take your word on that Jack"_

_..._

The bear closed the pocket watch when he saw the rabbit shaking. "Perhaps you've seen enough for now." Major sighed and moved to put the watch back on the wall.

"But... But what happened to them?" Minor asked innocently, but the bear could see the curiosity and worry behind the rabbits eyes. They knew by now that if their memories were here the person behind them was likely...

Well they had ended one state of being. The bear hummed, and placed a hand on the rabbits back, gently leading them away.

"If you wish to know, we can continue to observe another time. Perhaps when you are a bit more stable."

This seemed to pacify the rabbit who nodded.

Soon then left the room with the ticking clocks, Ursa Major looked back briefly, and smiled softly and some unseen force.

"Yes, we'll see the rest soon"


End file.
